The ELOC will advance the improvement of North American emergency location capabilities and services, and will focus initially on the standards needed to support the commitments defined in the roadmap.  In addition, the ELOC will collaborate and liaise with other organizations to seek broader implementation and adoption of solutions, including with the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) to progress global solutions.

Submitted in response to an FCC initiative, the roadmap addresses the public's growing use of mobile phones to make 9-1-1 calls. It is estimated that 70% of all 911 calls are placed from mobile phones, and 50% of those calls originate from indoor locations.  The roadmap focuses on using indoor technologies to deliver a more specific "dispatchable location," providing first responders with not only the calling party's civic address, but also critical information identifying a floor, suite or apartment.

"ATIS is proud to contribute the standards and solutions that will help emergency providers pinpoint the location of those in need of assistance," said ATIS President and CEO Susan Miller. "As a leader in developing emergency communications standards, ATIS is well-positioned to deliver the consensus and fast-tracked action needed to improve wireless 9-1-1 location accuracy."

ATIS' previously completed work identifying six geographic test regions will be used as the basis for the collection and reporting of data for live wireless 9-1-1 calls.  In support of the ELOC, ATIS will continue to identify recommendations for establishing wide-scale indoor location performance, similar to work it had previously undertaken in support of the FCC's Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council (CSRIC).