emergency telecommunications (EMTEL)

There are several concepts and initiatives for calling 112 ( E112) in the event of an emergency or accident. eCall from the European Commission is one of them, Emergency Call from the Federal Communications Commission( FCC) and Emergency Telecommunications (EMTEL) from the European Telecommunications Standards Institute( ETSI).

In all concepts, the person seeking help places the emergency call to a PSAP and is located. There are different approaches to positioning. While eCall works with the GPS system, Emergency Call and EMTEL are based on mobile positioning. However, EMTEL keeps the option of GPS positioning open. EMTEL activities incorporate various ETSI activities : Terrestrial Trunked Radio( TETRA), Third Generation Partnership Project( 3GPP), satellite communications, international telecommunications services, EMTEL-specific protocols and IP-based emergency call services.