Service providers are preparing for Apple’s “Emergency SOS Live Video.”

When iOS 18 is released for iPhone in September (presumably), there will also be improvements to the so-called Emergency SOS feature: After it has long been possible to make telephone contact with rescuers, video will now also be added. Apple has now started to implement interfaces for this purpose. Providers RapidSOS and ReadyID, which sell platforms for emergency call centers in the USA, want to implement Apple Emergency SOS live video using the update. Supposedly, almost universal coverage in North America should be possible soon.

Advertisement

Integration via update

“With the release of iOS 18 this autumn, dispatchers using (our platform) will be able to see in real time what iPhone users see with Emergency SOS Live Video,” Prepared Writes. The competitor RapidSOS will work As part of its UNITE platformWhich can centralize calls, text messages, video and sensor data.

Apple announced that the images will be transmitted to the relevant supervisor at headquarters via an encrypted connection. In addition to the situation data that has already been transmitted, the video content can help rescuers on site to locate casualties more quickly or make a preliminary assessment of injuries or risks. Apple says it is also possible to secure video content transmitted in this way as evidence.

Shenzhen: Apple is investing more money in Chinese laboratories

Problems with false alarms

It was initially unclear whether the feature would be implemented in Europe as well. Apple wants to introduce such features in its home market first and then distribute them globally. In the United States alone, 80 percent of calls to emergency centers come from cell phones. iPhones and Apple Watches can already detect accidents, although there are always reports of false alarms. But Apple is constantly optimizing the features.

Practice will have to show how useful a live video connection really is for emergency workers. Communicating via voice is already stressful enough for people involved in an accident – and there’s no way to know if they’ll hold the camera correctly in an emergency. Apple also offers Emergency calls work via satellite But.

(B.Sc.)