Bosch is one of the leading car as well as motorcycle component maker in the country and across the globe. The company has introduced an eCall emergency system. This is basically a software that is embedded in a car. In the unfortunate event of a crash, the eCall system will call the nearby medical personnel as well as alert the local police station. An operator too calls on the registered cellphone number to check the health of the victims.The eCall system is known to save lives by getting the required assistance in lesser time. Right now, Hindi and English languages are the available languages with the eCall system here. More than 13,500 verified hospitals as well as police stations too have been looped. Two new dedicated operation and data centres have been opened in Coimbatore and Bangalore. To understand this system better, Express Drives got in touch with Pratibha Batchu, GM, Bosch Service Solutions. Given below is the transcript of our conversation with her.
ED: What happens if the call centre is unable to get in touch with the provided relative’s contact? Does it automatically alert the authorities?
PB: Bosch emergency call generally informs the needed local authorities to handle the emergency, such as 108 or verified hospitals and police stations.
ED: What happens if a driver is in a no-network zone and an accident occurs?
PB: For the emergency call mobile network is required. In regions with bad network coverage eCall does work.
ED: How many OEMs/manufacturers till now have adopted this and how many more do you anticipate will?
PB: As of today, Bosch provides the eCall Service for one premium (Mercedes-Benz) OEM.
ED: Can this be retrofitted to an older car?
PB: Yes, this is possible. Bosch can support the eCall Services for new vehicles with the equipped hardware as well as for possible retrofit solutions.
ED: Since the eCall is continually linked with the provider, there is a high risk of personal data getting stolen. What type of security is provided with the same?
PB: For Bosch data security is a top priority. The Bosch emergency call fulfils the high EU eCall standards all over the world. Only in case of an emergency Bosch receives data that is relevant for the handling the accident. This is the so-called minimum set of data, e.g. the geolocation, and the number of passengers in the car.
Survivor first-person account
“My wife, the children and I – we got through the accident well. However, I never want to give up the eCall emergency call service. It helped us really quickly at the time.”
