London-based location services provider what3words has partnered BVG India to roll out an innovation location technology to support Maharashtra government’s emergency medical ambulance services – MEMS Dial 108.

The partnership aims to enable faster response time for patients in medical emergencies. The what3words mobile application will allow a patient to share the exact location geotag to emergency response services. The technology provider also claims that users of its app will be able to share their live location, even in areas of weak or no data connectivity.

Other than India, the company has tied also tied up with 120 emergency services control centres across the world to locate people in need with pin-point accuracy.

Essentially, what3words divides the world into 3 metre squares and gives each square a unique three words identifier. what3words can be accessed for free via an app on iOS and Android, and on its online map. The technology is available in 50 languages including 12 South Asian languages: Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Kannada, Nepali, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Punjabi, and Odia. The technology also accommodates users without the mobile app - call handlers can share an SMS with a link to what3words.com, so the caller can recite the corresponding what3words address displayed to convey their exact 3m x 3m location.

In Maharashtra, BVG MEMS is understood to respond to an average of 80,000 emergency calls every month, through its toll-free number – 108. The MEMS headquarters is set to benefit with the new collaboration with the technology provider.

According to Chris Sheldrik, CEO and co-founder, what3words, “Eighty-five percent of UK emergency services use what3words and we're aiming for 100%.”

“Other than BVG in Maharashtra, we are currently talking to others service providers as well and would expand our technology to all emergency response services in India,” he added.

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