When seconds count, location accuracy can mean the difference between life and death. You know this better than anyone. Every time your Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) receives a 000 call, your team faces a critical challenge: getting accurate location information quickly enough to dispatch the right resources to the right place.
Since 2020, Advanced Mobile Location (AML) technology has been quietly revolutionising how emergency services across Australia locate callers in distress. But here’s what you might not fully appreciate yet, the real power of AML isn’t just in the technology itself. It’s in how well your communications infrastructure integrates it with your existing Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) systems.
The Integration Challenge You’re Facing
You’ve likely experienced the frustration firsthand. A panicked caller rings 000, they’re not sure exactly where they are, and precious minutes tick by while your call-taker tries to establish their location. In rural areas, this challenge intensifies. In urban environments with complex building layouts, it’s equally problematic.
AML was designed to solve this problem by automatically transmitting precise GPS coordinates from the caller’s mobile phone the moment they dial 000. The technology activates instantly, pulling location data from multiple sources; GPS, Wi-Fi networks, and mobile cell towers, to pinpoint the caller’s position with remarkable accuracy.
But here’s the critical question: what happens to that location data once it arrives at your PSAP?
Where the Real Value Lives: Seamless Integration
The difference between AML being merely useful and genuinely life-saving comes down to integration. When your PBX and contact centre platform can instantly receive AML data and push it directly into your CAD system, your dispatchers don’t waste time manually entering coordinates or cross-referencing mapping systems.
Think about your current workflow. When a 000 call comes in, how many systems does your call-taker need to interact with? How many screens are they looking at? How many manual steps sit between receiving location data and getting a unit dispatched?
Modern integrated communications platforms are eliminating these friction points. When AML data flows automatically from the caller’s phone through your telephony infrastructure and into your CAD system, your dispatchers get instant visibility. They can see the caller’s precise location on their screen within seconds, verify it’s accurate, and dispatch the nearest available unit, all while your call-taker is still gathering critical incident information.
The Technology Architecture That Makes It Work
Your communications infrastructure needs three key capabilities to maximise AML effectiveness:
Real-time data reception: Your PBX must be configured to receive and process AML data packets the moment a 000 call connects. Legacy systems often lack this capability or require complex workarounds that introduce delays.
Intelligent routing: The location data needs to flow seamlessly from your contact centre platform into your CAD system without manual intervention. This requires open APIs and standardised integration protocols that many older platforms simply don’t support.
Unified presentation: Your dispatchers need to see caller location data presented clearly within their existing CAD interface, not on a separate screen or system that forces them to switch context mid-incident.
Real-World Impact: Beyond the Technology
You’ve probably seen the statistics; AML can reduce location uncertainty from hundreds of metres to just a few metres in many cases. But what does this mean for your actual operations?
Consider a cardiac arrest call in a suburban area where street numbers aren’t clearly visible. Before AML, your paramedics might spend critical minutes searching neighbouring properties. With accurate AML coordinates flowing directly into your CAD system, they drive straight to the correct address.
Or think about a bushfire emergency where a caller is trapped but doesn’t know their exact location. AML coordinates, instantly integrated with your dispatch mapping, allow you to direct fire crews precisely to their position while they’re still on the phone with your call-taker.
These aren’t hypothetical scenarios. They’re happening across Australian emergency services every day. The agencies seeing the greatest benefit are those who’ve invested in modern, integrated communications platforms that treat AML as a core capability.
What This Means for Your Infrastructure Planning
If you’re evaluating communications systems or planning an upgrade, AML integration should be a non-negotiable requirement. But don’t just ask vendors if they “support AML.” Dig deeper:
- How does AML data flow from their telephony platform into your specific CAD system?
- What happens if the AML feed fails? Is there automatic fallback?
- Can dispatchers see location confidence levels, so they know when to verify details with callers?
- How does the system handle multiple simultaneous 000 calls with AML data?
The answers to these questions will reveal whether you’re looking at genuine integration or a bolt-on solution that introduces more complexity than it solves.
Looking Ahead
Advanced Mobile Location represents a fundamental shift in emergency response capability. But its potential is only realised when your entire communications ecosystem, from PBX to contact centre to CAD, works together seamlessly.
As you plan your technology roadmap, consider how your infrastructure choices today will determine your ability to leverage not just AML, but the next generation of location and caller information technologies that are already emerging.
Your community is counting on you to make every second count. The right communications infrastructure makes that possible.
Looking to understand how modern communications platforms can better integrate AML with your PSAP operations? Explore our resources on emergency services communications infrastructure designed specifically for Australian agencies.
