A newly-disclosed Apple patent application suggests the company is working on a system to enhance emergency calls on the iPhone. Titled "Method and system for prolonging emergency calls," the patent describes a system for determining when a call is an emergency call, either by automatically classifying numbers as emergency services--such as 911--or via an emergency tagging system in the contacts application.
When an emergency call is detected, the iPhone could then implement a number of different tactics to help facilitate the call, including but not limited to deactivating Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or various sensors, implementing a confirmation alert before the call can be ended, and providing options for "emergency phrase buttons," which would allow the user to simply touch the iPhone's screen to send his/her current location, an "unable to speak" message, phrases describing the user's problem, or an automated request to contact a certain contact, all via pre-recorded audio messages.
As with all Apple patents, this filing does not necessarily represent any future product release for the iPhone, but offers evidence of the company's research in this area.
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