Triple Zero – 000 to save a life. AML tells you where

Triple Zero

Did you know that genuine Australian certified smartphones can call Triple Zero – 000 to save a life, report a serious accident or crime in progress for free and without a SIM card or current Telco plan? Even more importantly, most grey market smartphones can’t call 000 as their free call uses 911 (or whatever their original country uses).

Triple Zero – 000

Triple Zero can link you to Police, Fire or Ambulance. It now also has Advance Mobile Location (AML) for Android and iOS. This new feature supplies the location of the 000 call. Keep in mind, however, that AML is only part of genuine Australian certified phones.

AML uses a mix of GPS, Wi-Fi, mobile network information, and other sensor inputs to calculate the caller’s location. It sends this via a background SMS and removes the need to identify where you are. In fact, it is accurate to within 5-metres outside and 25-metres inside a building like a mall. It also helps identify hoax calls so pranksters beware of calling 000!

The AML service is a key collaboration between the Commonwealth Government, Telstra (as the Emergency Call Person for Triple Zero), emergency service organisations in every state and territory (police, fire and ambulance), mobile carriers (Telstra, Optus and TPG Telecom) and mobile operating system providers (Google for Android devices and Apple for iOS and watchOS devices).

Triple Zero Privacy

The AML location SMS is at once deleted from the phone. AML overrides any privacy settings to get the location and then returns them to what they were. It is only active during a Triple Zero – 000 call. In any case, using an Android or iOS device is subject to their respective privacy policies.

Overseas travellers with roaming

You can download the Emergency Plus app for Android or iOS, but its use depends on having mobile data. You can call 000 but you may need a country ID first. If English is not your first language, you can get translated documents here.

Other Public assistance numbers

  • SES for storm and flood – 132 500
  • Fire – if life-threatening Triple Zero or look up here
  • Police – 131 444 for non-emergency
  • Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000