Google and Microsoft are promising a fix after reports that the Microsoft Teams app is able to block calls being made from Android phones to 911 emergency services in the US.
It is not clear how many people could be affected, after Reddit user KitchenPicture5849 posted on the message board that they were unable to call 911 for an ambulance, after their grandmother appeared to be having a stroke.
“My phone got stuck immediately after one ring,” they reported. They were however able to call an ambulance using their grandmother’s landline, but they pointed out that many people no longer have landlines in their homes, purely relying on mobiles instead.
When the first voice over IP services were launched, they had a problem with calling emergency service numbers, but that problem was eventually overcome.
The reported problem between Teams and Google Android is apparently down to Teams taking priority with the phone’s call routing system, when the app is not able to make the call because the user is not logged in.
Google thanked the Reddit user for bringing the problem to its attention and said: “Based on our investigation we have been able to reproduce the issue under a limited set of circumstances. We believe the issue is only present on a small number of devices with the Microsoft Teams app installed, when the user is not logged in, and we are currently only aware of one user report related to the occurrence of this bug.”
It went on:
“We determined that the issue was being caused by unintended interaction between the Microsoft Teams app and the underlying Android operating system. Because this issue impacts emergency calling, both Google and Microsoft are heavily prioritising the issue, and we expect a Microsoft Teams app update to be rolled out soon – as always we suggest users keep an eye out for app updates to ensure they are running the latest version.”
It added that an Android platform update to the Android ecosystem will be issued on 4 January.
Google said users with Teams installed on any Android device running Android 10 or above could be affected by the problem. Those with an OS below Android 10 are not affected, it said.
It confirmed that users signed into Teams are not affected by the threat, and said they should stay signed in until they received a Microsoft Teams app update.
If users have Teams downloaded, but are not signed in, Google said they should uninstall it and reinstall the app. “While this will address the problem in the interim, a Microsoft Teams app update is still required to fully resolve the issue,” Google said.
For its part, Microsoft released the following statement:
“We are working on an update to our own application to avoid triggering the underlying Android operating system issue. We are collaborating closely with Google to resolve this unintended interaction.”
It is also being reported that Microsoft has already taken steps to address the issue.
Despite the two companies responses to the problem, other Reddit users have raised further unanswered questions and aimed criticism.
romhacks asked: “How is a 3rd party unprivileged app able to cause problems in such a system-level operation as an emergency call?”
_xavigo_ added: “As far as I read, the discussion is only about 911 in the US. Does the bug affect any emergency call number (112 in Europe) no matter which country or dialled number?”
littlD_1 said: “Happened to me also, the Friday before Thanksgiving. This almost cost me my life when I couldn’t call 911, and this can’t happen again. Android API team, please make sure no 3rd party developer can mess up a 911 call.”
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