Advanced Mobile Location
{{Short description|Widely implemented caller location for emergency services}}
Advanced Mobile Location (AML) is a free-of-charge emergency location-based service (LBS) available on smartphones that, when a caller dials the local (in country) short dial emergency telephone number, sends the best available geolocation of the caller to a dedicated end-point, usually a Public Safety Answering Point, making the location of the caller available to emergency call takers in real-time. AML improves the time taken by emergency call takers to verify the location of callers and can improve the time taken to dispatch an emergency response.
AML is a protocol to transport data with SMS and/or HTTPS from the phone to the emergency call centre in all countries that have deployed AML; it is not an app and does not require any action from the caller. AML is supported in many countries, and by all smartphones running recent versions of Android or iOS, although it can be disabled in user settings.{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}
AML was standardised by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) Emergency Telecommunications Subcommittee (EMTEL){{Cite web |title=Public safety & emergency communications |url=https://www.etsi.org/technologies/public-safety-emergency-communications |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=ETSI |language=en-gb}} in 2019 as Technical Specifications.{{Cite web|title=Emergency Communications (EMTEL);Transporting Handset Location to PSAPs for Emergency Calls - Advanced Mobile Location|url=https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_ts/103600_103699/103625/01.01.01_60/ts_103625v010101p.pdf|access-date=2020-07-08}}
History
AML was developed in the United Kingdom in 2014 by British Telecom, EE Limited, and HTC as a solution to problematic caller location in emergencies.{{Cite web|url=http://www.eena.org/press-releases/uk-shows-the-way-towards-accurate-caller-location-an-example-for-others-to-replicate|title=UK shows the way towards accurate caller location – An example for others to replicate!|website=www.eena.org|access-date=2016-04-25}} When a person in distress calls the emergency services with a smartphone where AML is enabled, the telephone automatically activates its location service to establish its position and sends this information to the emergency services via an SMS.{{Cite web|url=http://www.v3.co.uk/v3-uk/news/2379930/bt-ee-and-htc-develop-life-saving-mobile-phone-location-service-for-999-calls|title=BT, EE and HTC develop 'life-saving' mobile phone location service for 999 calls|website=www.v3.co.uk|access-date=2016-04-25}} The services use either a global navigation satellite system or WiFi depending on which one is better at the given moment. It was estimated that this technique is up to 4000 times more accurate than the previously used system.{{Cite web|url=http://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240234212/Advanced-Mobile-Location-pinpoints-999-calls-to-inside-30m|title=Advanced Mobile Location pinpoints 999 calls to within 30m|website=ComputerWeekly|language=en-GB|access-date=2016-04-25}}
Mobile phone support
= Supported operating systems =
Google announced in July 2016 that all Android phones running version 2.3.7, Gingerbread (released in December 2010) or later include AML. Google calls their implementation Emergency Location Service (ELS) or Android Emergency Location Service (AELS); this needs to be enabled in phone settings.{{cite web|last1=Kannan|first1=Akshay|title=Helping emergency services find you when you need it most|url=https://blog.google/topics/google-europe/helping-emergency-services-find-you/|date=25 July 2016|website=Google|access-date=22 February 2017}}
Apple devices, since March 2018, running iOS 11.3 or later also support AML.{{cite web|title=iOS 11.3 is available today|url=https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2018/03/ios-11-3-is-available-today/|website=Apple|date=29 March 2018|access-date=3 April 2018}}
= Regional requirements =
From March 2022 all smartphones sold in the EU Single Market must be equipped with AML, following a delegated regulation supplementing the Radio Equipment Directive.{{Cite web|title=Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/320|url=https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/ALL/?uri=CELEX:32019R0320|access-date=2020-07-08}}
Geographical availability
{{As of|2024|October}} AML was deployed in:{{Cite web|url=https://eena.org/knowledge-hub/documents/aml-report-card-2023-update/|date=15 May 2023|title=2023 AML Report Card|publisher=eena (European Emergency Number Association)}}
The European Electronic Communications Code mandates that all EU states were required to implement AML by December 2020.{{Cite web|url=https://eena.org/knowledge-hub/press-releases/aml-report-card-2020-edition-available-now/ |title=AML report card: 2020 edition available now |first=Benoit |last=Vivier |date=18 November 2020 |website=eena.org |language=en-US |access-date=28 February 2023}}
AML also works when using emergency SMS service on Android phones in some countries.{{Citation|last=eena112|title=European Emergency Number Association 2019 conference via YouTube - Advanced Mobile Location|date=2019-04-26|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3K6Vncj5iM&t=229|access-date=2019-05-04}}{{Better source needed|date=December 2019}}
Functionality
AML automatically turns on Wi-Fi and location services on the handset, collects and computes location data, then sends an SMS to the emergency services containing the caller's location, before turning location services and Wi-Fi off again.{{Cite web|url=https://eena.org/aml/|title=Advanced Mobile Location|publisher=eena (European Emergency Number Association)|language=en|access-date=2019-05-04}}
The service can also send the data via an HTTPS POST request to the specified endpoint. The country implementing AML decides whether to use an SMS endpoint or an HTTPS endpoint or both.
Integrating AML with emergency services' computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems can be hard which has led to the development of other systems like What3Words.{{Cite web |title=What3words: 'Life-saving app' divides opinion |last=Wakefield |first=Jane |work=BBC News |date=21 September 2019 |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-49754820}}{{better source needed|date=May 2023}}