For nearly a year, the department has been involved in beta testing and development for RapidSOS NG911, an Internet Protocol-based system that gives emergency responders rich data about 911 callers. Apple announced June 18 that it is partnering with RapidSOS, an emergency communications startup, to provide accurate location information to emergency dispatchers receiving 911 calls from iPhones.
“Since August of 2017, the emergency call management system at Public Safety has been integrated with the RapidSOS NG911 Clearinghouse for testing this solution,” said Paul Ominsky, executive director of Princeton’s Department of Public Safety. “The results were incredible, and the announcement by Apple means that Princeton University’s Department of Public Safety will be among the first call centers in the nation to be able to take advantage of this fast, accurate caller location information when calling 911 from an Apple device.”
Princeton University’s Communication Center is the first in New Jersey to test and deploy this technology and is among a handful of early adopters nationwide.
The 911 location service will be operational later this year with the rollout of the next generation of Apple’s operating system, iOS 12. A similar announcement from Google regarding Android phones is hoped for in the near future, said Keller Taylor, infrastructure operations manager for the Department of Public Safety.
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