Whether triggered automatically or manually, emergency call functions via a smartphone can cause headaches for emergency services.
The BBC reports a record number of ‘silent’ calls being received by UK services from Android mobile phone users. On a single evening last weekend, services in two regions at the top of the country received 169 such calls between midnight and 7am.
The other problem is that these calls take a good twenty minutes to process as the operators, in the absence of a response on the other end of the line, try to understand what is happening and if the person is conscious.
According to the authorities, the resurgence of these calls is linked to a wider roll-out of this feature on Android smartphones. After five repeated presses of the power button, a 5-second countdown begins. The emergency number 999 is then automatically dialed without user intervention.
The same function is also available on iOS (the countdown is 3 seconds longer). If you interrupted the security countdown yourself, the system will offer to send a report to Apple to understand the technical circumstances of this unintentional call.
The feature has been available on Pixels since 2021 with Android 12, and more recently it has also been used on more popular and numerous models. A larger spread that automatically increased the stats and made the problem more visible.
Google told the BBC that it was up to each manufacturer to decide how to integrate this feature. However, it will continue to share new information and resources with its partners for them to update how this option works.
Accident detection on iPhone 14: a festival of false alarms at concerts
In the event of a mistaken call, the authorities urge you to tell the operator that there was a mistake in order to avoid further loss of time.