Talk:Emergency telephone number

message: Does anyone have any information on texting 911? (Or whatever the other #s are).  Everything I can find so far is very outdated.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.189.113.196 (talk) 01:18, 21 August 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: It is possible to text 117, the emergency telephone number in the Philippines.  The service is called "Text 117".  So far it's the only emergency telephone number that can be texted, as far as I know. --Sky Harbor (talk) 14:16, 22 March 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: Texting and 911

message: As Geographically Turkey is part of both Asia and Europe, and politically is a candidate for membership of the EU, it would make more sense for Turkey to be mentioned under the European section.--SolDrury 09:03, 8 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: That's a political hot potato. The bulk of the country is in Asia, a potential counter-argument, which this isn't the page for ;-) We could always have a Eurasia section... – Kieran T (talk) 11:12, 16 May 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Turkey in Europe

message: Information on the Emergency services number is duplicated here.  Perhaps the best title is (Universal) Emergency telephone number, as that is what 9-1-1 is called, and most similar numbers in other countries are called also called an Emergency Telephone Number.  If everything gets collected here, under one name it would save duplication. Any Thoughts? kiwiinapanic 12:36 Dec 31, 2002 (UTC)
Reviewed kiwiinapanic 09:22 Jan 19, 2003 (UTC)
Additional topics to be covered:
* mention telephony as essential service
* mobile phones have made emergency reporting more pervasive
* treatment of silent emergency calls
:Copied the above from a longer list on the page. I've filled in the information which was in bullet form at the bottom of the page, and also under that 'Addition topics to be covered' header. Stick in the above if you can fit it somewhere. As it is, Configuration and Operation section is a tad unwieldy - could be improved!
:Zoney 20:58, 13 Mar 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Combining material

message: Is there any United Nations or similar international authority or treat for a common world number?
I could suggest 9112.
:My thought would be to make 911 OR 112 work anywhere in the world (much like 112 or 999 works in Britain). Then anyone could use whichever they're familiar with. Radagast 19:49, 30 September 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: As GSM works most everywhere in the world, and 112 is the common GSM emergency number, I think 112 would be the natural choice, should such a feat ever be accomplished. --Teemu Leisti 21:32, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

text: The problem with trying to implement 911 on a worldwide basis is that in many places there are legitimate local numbers which start with the digits 911. Although a timeout could be implemented (for landlines, cellular is different, of course), it would be far from ideal. For all practical purposes, renumbering to remove local numbers starting with 911 would be a prerequisite. 87.113.136.95 (talk) 20:24, 3 May 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  World common emergency number 

message: *Don't merge.  Any duplication is fine. -- Reinyday, 08:16, 28 August 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Merging [[9-1-1]] and [[1-1-2]]

message: Could someone with knowledge fix the Poland number?
Is it 999 as suggested by the list or 112 as suggested by EU list?
999 is the standard emergency number in Poland, but 112 will also work (as Poland is in the EU). Proto t c 09:47, 2 September 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: This seems to have been fixed. Spel-Punc-Gram (talk) 22:21, 18 December 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Poland's emergency telephone number 

message: Please don't  merge with 911. 112 is the international GSM emergency number and redirects to the local number in any nation in the world. 911 is only used in the US and canada. - User:adbabypenguin
: Not true: I dialled 112 in Thailand when my wife needed an ambulance, and it's an invalid number.
: I was told to dial 1169 which is different to the number listed in the table. Spel-Punc-Gram (talk) 22:13, 18 December 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  dont merge with 911 

message: All the red links on this page that link to not-yet-created pages for #-#-# are a problem.  Are we to suppose they will all eventually have pages?  The one important function they serve right now is that it helps them stand out. I propose we bold all the numbers, and link only the ones that exist or will probably exist (or should exist).  Is that allowable within the style guidelines? Anyone have another suggestion or a problem with this suggestion?  Thoughts?
-- Renesis13 00:23, 6 January 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I don't have anything to add to this problem specifically, but another thing that needs to be fixed is the fact that some of the number links redirect back to this page (1-1-2 and 1-0-1 and 1-0-0 are examples of this).--El Zilcho 21:31, 2 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  I followed the suggestions above. I removed all links that either directed to a non-existing page, or to a page that was about a year, not a telephone number (for instance, 9-1-1 is about the telephone number, and 911 abou the year), and then bolded the number. I left those links that referred to some other page than an article about a year, or this article itself. I also made numerous stylistic improvements, at least in my humble opinion. --Teemu Leisti 21:30, 28 July 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  Thank you, it looks good. :) -- Renesis13 03:36, 5 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Non existant wiki-linked numbers 

message: The section on mobile phones and the handling of emergency calls is unclear and may be innacurate.  No-one seems able to clearly answer what priorities a 112 gets on GSM, whether the same priorities apply to 911 and 999, whether a sim card and credit is required, the limitations on 'roaming' or hijacking another network when out of signal.  This confusion appears pretty widespread, for example the MobileShop.org says:
"Emergency Calls
To make an emergency call, dial 112. This sets up a priority call to the emergency operator, cutting through any network congestion. 999 will also work in the UK, but may not get priority treatment from the mobile network.
Some phone manuals or displays suggest that you can make an emergency call through another network if your network has no coverage, or with no sim card in the handset. Although the GSM specification requires this facility in the hardware, none of the UK networks will accept such calls. No sim, or no service from your network, and you can't make that emergency call!"
Which is plain wrong, i have made several successful 999 calls in the UK without credit or signal.  The phone display reads 'attempting emergency call' and the signal bar re-appears when connection is made (using another network provider).  I would suggest that any further claims about what mobile emergency calls do and do not allow be suitably referenced.
I added the citation needed to the claim about 'some GSM networks will only connect a phone with an account', as this would appear to be in contravention of the GSM emergency call standard, and thus unlikely.  Any thoughts peeps? MrFire 18:20, 15 January 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Emergency calls on mobile phones 

message: This paragraph HAS to be fixed:
In France, in 1928, telephone operators had to connect the calls for emergency reasons even when the phone service was closed. In 1929, an automatic connection system was set up, initially for fewer than 10,000 people in Paris, allowing them to dial 18 to reach the fire brigade. The service was not widespread until the 1970s.
What I THINK the writer is trying to say is that many small manual telephone exchanges were closed at night and sometimes on weekends, but there may have been provision to wake the operator in an emergency.  While the French telephone service was notoriously inefficient, the manual exchanges in Paris and other large cities would still have been open 24/7.  Large or small, it usually wasn't necessary to ask for the emergency services by number on a manual system.
The next thing I THINK the writer is trying to say is that the first automatic (dial) exhange opened in Paris in 1929, and it served less than 10,000 subscribers.  However, it made provision for calling the fire brigade (Pompiers) and ambulance by dialing 18. The writer doesn't mention it, but the number for police was 17. As more exchanges were converted to dial operation, more subscribers had access to these special numbers.  In fact, France eventually had at least eight two-digit special service codes, all numbered 1X. In addition to emergency services, they were used for long distance, telegrams, repair service, and complaints.
If the date of 1929 is correct, then 999 technically was not the first standardized emergency number to be used. I own one French telephone that was factory-converted to dial operation in the mid-1920's, and as nearly as I can tell, the center of the dial only contains dialing instructions. I have several later French phones, and they all list the series of two-digit special service codes in the center of the dials.
RogerInPDX 06:47, 6 May 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: France?

message: I have just converted Asia section's list to a table. If someone would like to proofread it, it would be nice, I don't want to have made any mistake as people might actually depend on this. --Voidvector 18:15, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Asia to Table 

message: I've edited the last of the "sprawling lists", now the South America section is in tabular form. Does this merit removal of the "cleanup" tag?
Dbingham 18:31, 4 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  List cleanup completed? 

message: I understand that each country has their own telephone system, that  became active at different times etc. However, why hasn't 999 (or any other triplicated digit) achieved global use? In an emergency, under stress, in darkness or smoke, isn't it easiest to find 1 button and hit it 3 times? I always thought that the emergency number should be the simplest possible number to dial, and yet not be so simple to misdial. 999 fits that bill, but I don't believe 911 or 112 do. Am I over-engineering this?82.20.22.181 23:53, 31 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: You may have your point, but Wikipedia is not for personal opinions. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a forum.--Joshua Say "hi" to me!What have I done? 03:05, 1 November 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Gosh, you're right. Perhaps that's why I was asking on the DISCUSSION PAGE for an elaboration on the article? Hmm? Did you notice that I added neither opinion, nor unverifiable information to the article? Don't you think there might be a place in an encyclopedia for the evolution and engineering studies of emergency telephone numbers? Can anyone else offer any (useful) information?86.0.121.102 12:23, 1 November 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: A thought on the ease of dialing emergency numbers under stress, poor visibility, etc:  With the old dial phones, 999 was (apparently) chosen in the UK (etc) because the number (hole in the dial) could be easily found, but was the least likely combination to be dialed accidentally (or quickly!).  Presumably similar logic was behind the choice of 911 in the States.  However, with modern (key pad) phones the number 9 is no longer the last (or second to last) number, it is the 9th out of 12, and so not particulary easy to find.  Therefore, numbers based on the first digits would seem to make more sense, as the number 1 is always the first key on any phone.  Of course, the fact that a number is easy to dial also increases the chances of it being dialed by mistake, so 111 wouldn't be a good idea.  So perhaps this is the logic behind the (near) universal adoption of 112?  Although I can't help feeling that 123 or even 147 would have been a better choice - almost as easy to dial (and easier to remember?), but less likely to be dialed by accident.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.34.152.49 (talk) 22:47, 28 May 2011 (UTC)

text:  Your correspondent notes ease of dialling 999 in smoke. You'll notice that 999 was introduced in the UK in 1937 when war was imminent. Notices were put in phone boxes (only the well-off had private phones) with instructions for dialling 999 in smoke or the blackout. One would feel for the finger stop, then to the left and place the first and second fingers in the first two holes one came to. Lifting the second finger would leave the first in the nine. It only remained to drag the dial round clockwise and release it (you would hear the mechanism clicking as it returned) then repeat the process two more times. 2.28.217.44 (talk) 13:06, 11 February 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Why isn't 999 universal? 

message: I live in Germany and 112 is reserverd for fire department and ambulance.
The German Police is avaible by dialling 110. I have never heard that Police is directly avaible to 112.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.135.51.40 (talk) 14:55, 14 August 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: I just looked threw the websites of all 16 police (www.polizei.de) and 15 of them mention 110 as the telephone number. (On the site of the police of Thuringia no number is mentioned) and not a single one of them mentions 112. The federal police and the BKA also only mention 110. I also looked at the sources 6,7,8,9 and none of them state that Germany's police is available through 112. Source 8 even lists 110 for police in Germany. I will therefore put 110 back as the German police number.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.49.168.25 (talk) 14:55, 26 May 2010 (UTC)

text: But that does not change that you will be connected to the fire brigade call center on calling 112. They can and will divert your call to 110 if you need solely the police. But 110 still connects directly to the police.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.49.133.216 (talk) 08:34, 30 May 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  112 in Germany 

message: In my experience nobody in the UK would use 112 in an emergency (obviosuly there are some but my emphasis is to demonstrate how very rare it is) and therefore I would suggest swapping 999 as the emergency number and then putting 112 in the note section. I'm sure other EU countries are the same but I have know experience of them. Any thoughts? RaseaC (talk) 12:35, 20 September 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Further; I've had a look around on the internet and can't really find any official website that uses 112 as an emergency number, so I've gone ahead and made the change. Also, I've removed redundant 101 information and removed the details about calling the gas company, as this is non-notable. RaseaC (talk) 13:22, 20 September 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  UK in the table 

message: 1. 112 is redirected to 100 (police).
2. For all countries I this a distinction should be made between mobiles and land phones. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Giladasaf (talk • contribs) 10:14, 24 November 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Israel 

message: I have amended this entry - 
"The first implementation of the 911 system was deployed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in 1959 at the urging of Stephen Juba, mayor of Winnipeg at the time"
- since it suggested that 911 was adopted as the emergency number in Winnipeg in 1959, which is not the case.  I've also made a minor edit to the following paragraph about the first 911 systems in the U.S. in 1968 for consistency.  87.113.136.95 (talk) 20:44, 3 May 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Winnipeg 

message: Hello. I am not familiar with adding the information since it is in a table format. I am happy to tell you now that for Tahiti - French Polynesia, the Fire is 18 and Police is 17. Thanks in advance who is kind enough to add this information on there. Flowright138 (talk) (contributions) 06:36, 21 June 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  French Polynesia emergency number 

message: Recently, I found out that Japan has another emergency number which is 555. Should that be added to this article or what? BrydoF1989 (talk) 19:13, 19 September 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  555 emergency number in Japan 

message: This page mentions that 911 is available as an alternative to 000 in Australia. I believe this is incorrect from reading the ACMA and other government websites: http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_1695 & http://www.triplezero.gov.au/Pages/Usingotheremergencynumbers.aspx. Can someone please amend if they confirm this is incorrect (obviously there is no way to confirm whether what the page says is accurate, but the explanation on the first citation seems to prove it's impossible). 
Jaw123 (talk) 22:57, 17 April 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  911 in Australia 

message: 10* numbers (101-104) come from Soviet standard, with a 1 appended solely to accomodate for the need to type at least 3 digits. An alternate way in some regions (though may require a SIM card with funds) is to append a star after those.
From soviet 01-09 set of emergency numbers:
* 01: Fire brigade
* 02: Police
* 03: Ambulance
* 04: Gas leaks
* 05: (sometimes?) Electricity
* 06-08: ?
* 09: Information (companies' lookup - such as phone number of a certain pharmacy)
This standard was created when pulse dial system was most common and most phones had a disc dialer.
: 08 is for reporting telephone line faults, and 07 I believe is for water/sewage issues. Spel-Punc-Gram (talk) 22:19, 18 December 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Russia - Origin of 10* numbers 

message: I propose to split the "Emergency numbers" section to a separate list-type article "List of emergency telephone numbers". The rationale is twofold: first, the topics is different, unrelated to the concept of an "emergency telephone number". Second, it is a different reader who will look up an emergency number in some foreign country to the one who is into technologies and the history of telecommunication.
If no serious objections are raised, I will proceed with the split some time in March. kashmiri TALK 22:30, 5 February 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Suggestion: split off the country list 

message: The overall text is mostly fine, but the use of the 911 image displayed at the top of the page gives the article US bias. Yes it's just an example, but if you want to use an example image use one showing 112 as it's used in over twice as many countries around the world as 911 and there for has far more relevance to the global audiance that wikipedia has. 
More simply. Just remove the image completely, it adds nothing of value to the article.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2620:104:4001:70:192D:A4F5:3437:83B5 (talk) 10:46, 22 June 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: Sure, but consider that this is an English Wikipedia and over 50% of its readers are based in the United States. I find that visual information enriches Wikipedia, so I don't support removing the only image from the article - but if you have a free image of 112, why don't you just add it? — kashmiri TALK 16:29, 22 June 2016 (UTC)
thread_title: Yet another Wiki article with US bias

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: There is a large section describing how mobile phones did not connect in the usual number if an emergency number was called. Here is a discussion showing that a UK visiter to the US being unable to call 911. https://forum.vodafone.co.uk/t5/Pay-monthly/Calling-911-in-the-US-from-a-UK-mobile/td-p/2439835 and here is one showing that rival networks didn't even support emergency calls on another network. https://www.grough.co.uk/magazine/2009/10/16/999-roaming-will-mean-easier-calls-for-rescue I suggest that the long passage on how access is gained to emergency numbers doesn't use some alternative connection system.
 I have reread the section again and again and submit the question 'when you roam, you can still make calls through another provider BUT since it has to roam worldwide, the system either sends to an agreed DTMF number and/or the SIM-cards SIM_PBSTORAGE_EMERGENCY number is copied into the handsets emergency number. I know I am making unfounded suggestions but the total lack of evidence to support the original premis is at least partially proved to be wrong. Occam's razor would be to use an agreed upon number. DTMF uses 16 frequencies so normally, codes inaccesable through phones can be used. The simplest and best answer.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.99.74.135 (talk) 16:45, 6 August 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Emergency Numbers 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: The UK also has a number for emergency calls - 55 - where you're in a position where you can't speak (e.g. intruder might hear you). This should probably be added into the article  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.148.84.68 (talk) 14:51, 1 June 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  55 

message: According to this article the 999 system was deployed on 1 July 1937. One of the references cited, https://web.archive.org/web/20121213082807/http://www.britishtelephones.com/histuk.htm, dates this as the previous day, 30 June 1937. Wikipedia's page for the date 30 June — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_30 — also shows this deployment on that day. I do not want to change it myself in case I am missing something. Thanks. Cruciverbalistic tea drinker (talk) 14:11, 27 June 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  999 in Britain 

message: Brandon 
n bc CD vnn she hghrjfhhfv hfbh 2600:4041:5763:C100:3183:A832:CE51:C1A8 (talk) 15:18, 11 July 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Brandon