Advanced Mobile Location

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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.[1] AML is supported in many countries, and by all smartphones running recent versions of Android or iOS. It can be disabled in user settings on Android but it is always available on iOS.[citation needed]

AML was standardised by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) Emergency Telecommunications Subcommittee (EMTEL)[2] in 2019 as Technical Specifications.[3]

History

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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.[4] 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.[5] 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.[6]

Mobile phone support

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Supported operating systems

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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.[7]

Apple devices, since March 2018, running iOS 11.3 or later support AML.[8]

Regional requirements

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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.[9]

Geographical availability

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As of October 2024 AML was deployed in:[10][11]

Country Region Operating System Note
 Australia Oceania [12]
 Austria Europe Android only Not all local emergency numbers supported; 112 supported
 Belgium 112, 1722, 1733 supported
 Brazil South America Android, iOS 190 (Police), 192 (SAMU) and 193 (Fire) supported[13]
 Bulgaria Europe
 Croatia
 Czechia Android, iOS Wi-Fi supported
 Denmark
 Estonia Android, iOS, HarmonyOS, Jolla
 France
 Finland
 Germany 112 supported, 110 (Police) only some federal states only [14]
 Greece
 Hungary
 Iceland
 Ireland
 Latvia Android, iOS
 Lithuania
 Malaysia Asia Android, iOS Next Generation Emergency Response Services 999 (NG MERS 999)[15]
 Mexico North America Android only Some PSAPs
 Moldova Europe
 Montenegro Android only
 Netherlands Android, iOS, HarmonyOS
 North Macedonia
 New Zealand Oceania Android, iOS Known as Emergency Caller Location Information[16]
 Norway Europe
 Philippines Asia Android Only Android was mentioned. iOS and other operating systems were not mentioned. Not all local emergency numbers supported; 911 supported.[11]
 Portugal Europe
 Romania Android, iOS, HarmonyOS
 Slovakia Android, iOS, HarmonyOS
 Slovenia [17][18]
 Spain
 Sweden
 Switzerland Android, iOS, HarmonyOS
 United Arab Emirates Asia
 United Kingdom Europe Android, iOS 999, 112
 United States North America Some PSAPs
(PSAPs) - Public Safety Answering Points

The European Electronic Communications Code mandates that all EU states were required to implement AML by December 2020.[10]

AML also works when using emergency SMS service on Android phones in some countries.[19]

Functionality

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If a device's location services and Wi-Fi are not active, AML temporarily turns them on. It collects and computes location data, sends a message containing the caller's location, usually by SMS, to the emergency services, then returns location services and Wi-Fi to their previous state.[20]

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 or an HTTPS endpoint, or both.

Integrating AML with emergency services' computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems can be hard. Alternative ways of specifying and communicating location have been developed, such as What3Words[21][better source needed] and Google's "Plus Code" or Open Location Code.[22]

References

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  1. ^ "Advanced Mobile Location". eena (European Emergency Number Association). Retrieved 2019-05-04.
  2. ^ "Public safety & emergency communications". ETSI. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
  3. ^ "Emergency Communications (EMTEL);Transporting Handset Location to PSAPs for Emergency Calls - Advanced Mobile Location" (PDF). Retrieved 2020-07-08.
  4. ^ "UK shows the way towards accurate caller location – An example for others to replicate!". www.eena.org. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  5. ^ "BT, EE and HTC develop 'life-saving' mobile phone location service for 999 calls". www.v3.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  6. ^ "Advanced Mobile Location pinpoints 999 calls to within 30m". ComputerWeekly. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  7. ^ "How ELS works". Android. Retrieved 5 December 2025.
  8. ^ "iOS 11.3 is available today". Apple. 29 March 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  9. ^ "Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/320". Retrieved 2020-07-08.
  10. ^ a b "2023 AML Report Card". eena (European Emergency Number Association). 15 May 2023.
  11. ^ a b noliverio (2024-10-02). "Cebu City activates 911 command center". Cebu Daily News. Retrieved 2025-02-03.
  12. ^ "Advanced Mobile Location has been deployed in Australia". Australian Government - Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts. 16 December 2020.
  13. ^ "Novo Serviço de Localização de Emergência está em operação no Brasil" [New emergency location service is operational in Brazil]. Anatel (in Brazilian Portuguese). December 16, 2024. Archived from the original on December 17, 2024. Retrieved December 17, 2024.
  14. ^ online, heise (2024-11-28). "AML technology: progress in emergency call location via 110". heise online. Retrieved 2025-07-05.
  15. ^ Malaysia, Telekom (2025-11-16). "TM and Govt Introduce Next-Gen 999 Emergency System". Telekom Malaysia. Retrieved 2025-11-16.
  16. ^ "Emergency Caller Location Information". MBIE. 2024-10-14.
  17. ^ "Pregled števila klicev s podatki AML | Statklic". statklic.sos112.si. Archived from the original on 2022-06-26. Retrieved 2022-06-24.
  18. ^ "Uprava Republike Slovenije za zaščito in reševanje". www.sos112.si. Archived from the original on 2021-01-14. Retrieved 2022-06-24.
  19. ^ Advanced Mobile Location (1 hour video, with transcript). European Emergency Number Association 2019 conference. 2019-04-26. Event occurs at 4'10" – via YouTube.
  20. ^ "Advanced Mobile Location (AML)". Triple Zero. Government of Australia. 18 July 2025.
  21. ^ Wakefield, Jane (21 September 2019). "What3words: 'Life-saving app' divides opinion". BBC News.
  22. ^ "Plus Codes". Google. Retrieved 5 December 2025.