Springfield, MA Locates Mobile Callers with Increased Accuracy Thanks to Rave’s RapidSOS Integration
Customer Success Story
Springfield, MA Locates Mobile Callers with Increased Accuracy Thanks to Rave’s RapidSOS Integration
Industry
Challenges Solved
9-1-1 Response, Critical Communication, Mass Notification, Safety & Protection
Customer Details
Springfield, Massachusetts is 31.9 square miles with over 154,000 residents across 55,894 households and 9,143 businesses.
Solution
THE CHALLENGE
We live in an age where anyone can pull out their GPS-enabled smartphone and look up exactly where they are. But the outdated 9-1-1 infrastructure built for landlines means it’s not easy to accurately pinpoint the whereabouts of someone who has called 9-1-1 with an emergency. In some cases, it can take 10-15 minutes to rebid a mobile caller’s location.
In an emergency, this delay is unacceptable, and city officials in Springfield, Massachusetts wanted to find a new way for 9-1-1 call takers swiftly locate callers who were using mobile devices. Officials knew that this was a growing issue, especially as an increasing number of out-of-town visitors traveled to Springfield for the city’s newly-opened casino.
The Solution
Springfield was the first in Massachusetts to address this challenge by implementing Rave 911 Suite’s enhanced location capabilities. Through Rave Mobile Safety’s partnership with RapidSOS, 9-1-1 call takers can view fast and accurate device location from callers dialing 9-1-1 from the Uber app, an iPhone with iOS 12, or an Android device.
RapidSOS provides mobile device data from Uber, Apple, and Android at no cost to all users of the Rave 911 Suite. This means that during a 9-1-1 call, call takers are able to receive this information at a faster rate than traditional 9-1-1 ALI feeds.
Along with accessing Uber’s location data, call takers can also see details such as the vehicle make, model, and license plate number. This is especially helpful when a passenger needs to report an unsafe driver and cannot provide information about the car they are riding in.
Additionally, with the public release of iOS 12, Rave users with RapidSOS NG911 Clearinghouse integration enabled can receive fast and
accurate location data from millions of Apple iPhones. Like other information received this way, Apple or Android location will be displayed as supplemental data, and will not replace existing location information.
“As a result of the casino coming in and the increased amount of traffic – especially when it comes to people using Uber – having this technology was an obvious choice for us,” says D. Jeremy DeMar, Springfield’s Emergency Communication Director.
For a city like Springfield, this capability holds tremendous value. The Rave 911 Suite enabled them to quickly turn on the additional mobile caller location data provided through RapidSOS from Uber, Apple and Android without disrupting their systems or processes.
“It’s an added layer of safety and security for the people who visit our city, and for the people who reside here as well. Rave’s technology dramatically improves the ability of our call takers to not only determine what’s going on with a caller, but also get some additional baseline information that they otherwise wouldn’t have access to.”
D. JEREMY DEMAR,
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR
SPRINGFIELD, MA
The Result
Springfield now has greater tools to help locate mobile callers around the city. Regardless of whether a person uses a mobile device to call 9-1-1 while at home, around town, or on the move in an Uber, Springfield call takers are better equipped to locate them and address their emergency rapidly and efficiently.
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