The next call you make to triple zero could be that much more effective, as the police in New South Wales evolve phone call assistance to be more tech savvy.
Getting lost in the middle of nowhere has seen technological improvements with the advent of satellite emergency calls on the iPhone, but what about everything else: what happens when you need to call 000 and you’re struggling to convey just what is going on?
If you’re in Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Wollongong, or just about any other part of New South Wales in Australia, you may soon be able to turn your request for help into a video livestream for the team on the other end of the phone, adding more to the system than just a voice trying to explain the situation.
NSW Police has launched a platform that will work across iPhone and Android that will allow police dispatchers to not only talk to callers, but also get more details from their phone.
No app will be required, and users will instead be asked to follow a link, directing them to a web service that can provide media and image uploads, GPS coordinates, and live video streaming to the dispatcher on the other end. That’s essentially providing more information and a direct location police can respond to faster, and that’s not all.
Called “BluLink”, the platform will also provide text messaging between the caller and the police, complete with translation, turning potentially turning an issue with language difficulties into one that can be more easily solved with text, and goes beyond simply connecting the police to SMS.
“We know that members of the community are our eyes and ears and ‘BluLink’ is an innovative way in which further information can be provided to us during a Triple Zero (000) call, which assists us in enhancing our policing response,” said Stacey Maloney, NSW Police Assistant Commissioner and Commander of Technology and Communication Services Command.
“‘BluLink’ is expected to better assist the public and save time and resources across every police command for both front line and specialist areas,” she said. “You never know when you might be in an emergency, or need to call Triple Zero (000), and ‘BluLink’ could help if something were to happen.”
NSW Police have been testing the BluLink platform for over a year, which has assisted police with several incidents, including finding people and returning them to safety.
