The Oneida County 911 Center is now complementing its emergency calling system with a tool that receives fast and accurate location data through 911 calls made from mobile devices.

The Oneida County Department of Emergency Services began using RapidLite earlier this month, which is a system that draws precision location data from your phone. 

RapidLite’s GPS technology is similar to that used by Uber in its ridesharing service, and is able to pinpoint a mobile phone user’s near exact location when an emergency call is made from his or her device.

“Oneida County always seeks to implement 911 technology tools that will improve emergency response for constituents,” said Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente Jr. “This new asset will serve as a complement to our existing 911 system, providing an even further level of precision and safety.  It has already been put to use several times with several 911 ‘hang up’ calls to find the location of the callers, and we have been impressed with the results.”

RapidLite is free to use for the public, which only requires residents to have an up-to-date operating system on their phone in order to participate.