14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has announced that American users can now dial 911 using nothing but Skype, a feature that has until now been available in a very limited number of regions.
Worth knowing, however, is that Skype’s 911 calls may not be as reliable as traditional phone calls, pretty much because they also depend on a series of other factors, such as an existing data connection.
A phone calls obviously works even if there’s no power in your home, so in theory, 911 calls on Skype should be used only in case of a real emergency.
Microsoft explains that Skype can also transmit your location to emergency teams.
“You can also enable 911 emergency location sharing to permit Skype to automatically capture and share your location with emergency operators when making a 911 call. Your location will only be shared in the event you dial 911 for the purpose of routing your call and providing location information to your local emergency operator,” Microsoft explains.
“If you are operating from a device that does not have an API for location sharing or are in a location where location sharing is unavailable, your location will not be shared automatically with the emergency services operator.”
Enabling 911 emergency location sharing in Skype
Users need to manually enable 911 emergency location sharing in skype from their account settings (by clicking on the profile picture) and then heading over to Settings and Privacy.
“Turn 911 emergency location sharing on. You will need to acknowledge the Notices & Disclosures and the Special 911 Warning of Limitations & Unavailability to complete the process. You can disable 911 emergency location sharing at any time, but this means your address will not be shared with 911 in case of an emergency,” the company explains.
Obviously, location sharing must also be enabled on your PC, as such permissions are required at the OS level.