European Service Providers agree to push ahead with eCall

Creation date: 03 October 2006

European Service Providers met with the European Commission and DG eCall representatives’ on 12 September to define their future role in the deployment of eCall, the pan-European in-vehicle emergency call system.  Generated either manually by vehicle occupants or automatically via sensors after an accident, the eCall device will via the single European emergency call number 112 notify the nearest emergency services, providing them with a range of information including the exact location and time of the accident as well as the vehicle identification.

The 12 September meeting  concluded that:

• European Service Providers should play an active role in the implementation of eCall by supporting the rapid introduction of the basis eCall service, but also by providing additional value added information to the 112 emergency call operators.
• The meeting identified a need to specify and agree on a common pan-European interface between European Service Providers and 1st level Public Service Answering Points (PSAPs) in order to ensure that the PSAP operators will have access to the value added information provided by the various Service Providers.
• The European Service Provides could also take on the role as first level PSAP in some regions of Europe where this is more cost efficient or effective. This is for example done today in the UK.

The meeting concluded that there was broad agreement among participants to press on for the speedy adoption of the basic eCall solutions.

For more information about eCall, visit the eCall Toolbox.