The EU-wide vehicle emergency call system, eCall, is the most important part of the European eSafety initiative. eSafety is an initiative launched in 2002 by the European Commission and the industry interested in road safety along with other associations.

The goal of the eSafety initiative is to increase road safety through the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). To be more precise, this means to decrease the fatalities by half from 2001 to 2010 to 25,000.

The idea of eCall

The use of an automatic on-board emergency system, known as eCall – shall save lives and reduce the social burden due to road accidents. This can be achieved by:

• Improving the accident report
• Accelerate the reaction of emergency services
• Reduce the severity of injuries and number of fatalities

Procedure

In case of an accident, an on-board unit triggers an emergency call via the European 112 emergency number. The call can be done automatically or manually, for example by an observer of an accident.

What is new is the fact that the eCall service can be offered by third parties. In this case, we speak of the so-called Third Party Service eCall (TPS).

By establishing a voice connection to a Public Service Answering Point (PASP) or a Third Party Service call center will receive a Minimum Set of Data (MSD) from the on-board unit. This sending is done automatically.  The MSD contains information from the on-board computer and the crash sensor, informing about the type of vehicle, intensity of the crash, temperature inside the vehicle, etc.

Implementation

Based on the current suggestions from the EU Commission, eCall is to be implemented in September 2010. However, currently only approximately 50% of the EU Member States have approved a mandatory introduction of eCall. Therefore it is very likely that there will be a voluntary implementation of the directive.

Services

We have developed a comprehensive eCall system based on SPACE Tracker. The technology was tested by several German car manufacturers.

The SPACE Tracker eCall system is already being used by Allianz Group. It offers a highly flexible and efficient technology and can be used worldwide.