In June, Apple revealed a new feature of its Emergency SOS that allows users to make video calls to 911 dispatchers. The feature was just announced to go live at 911 dispatch centers this fall.

According to CNET, RapidSOS and Prepared, which provide communications to 911 services, will support this new feature in the coming months; according to RapidOS, these features will be offered “free of charge to existing emergency services customers” and the update should cover 99 percent of the U.S. population.

This support will allow 911 dispatchers to see if a caller's phone has video calling or photo sharing capabilities. If necessary, they can send a live video or photo sharing request over a secure connection. By doing so, they can get a clearer picture of the situation and be better prepared to share relevant information with first responders.

It is very valuable for a responder to use the surroundings in the video to narrow down a location, determine the severity of the issue at hand, or to use their live video feed in situations where someone is unable to properly communicate what the issue is (e.g., young children)

This functionality is also very important for the “live video feed”.

This feature is part of an existing emergency SOS feature that allows users to call 911 without first dialing the number into a phone app. And unlike some of the emergency SOS features Apple has added to iOS in recent years, this uses a regular cellular signal rather than a satellite connection.

It is not yet known in detail how this will work or whether callers themselves will be able to initiate video calls or photo sharing. But Apple has confirmed that everything will be shared over a secure connection.

However, these new features will likely not be available unless iOS 18 is installed. While a public beta version of the software is available for installation right now, the final release is not set to arrive until later this year - which is likely to be shortly before Apple's September event and the iPhone 16 launch. Therefore, it would be good to see the dispatcher be able to support the new safety features around the same time they are released to the masses.