In-Vehicle Emergency Call Services: eCall and Beyond

What is the status of in-vehicle emergency call services? Which standards are being adopted? Does the NG-911/112 architecture support such services? The objective of this article is to address these questions. To do so we review the evolution of eCall, compare approaches developed in different parts of the world, and discuss interoperability between selected systems. This study shows that it is challenging to compare and classify in-vehicle emergency call systems because of different standards, terminologies, and proprietary specifications. We conclude that the NG-911/112 framework provides the building blocks to support next generation eCall, and can contribute to a common standard for the interface between private service centers and public safety answering points.