112 emergency number

[Robbi]

not sure if this is the right place to put this so mods please move if you see fit.

I've just been told about using 112 as the emergency telephone number instead of 999, has anyone else heard of this ?

apparently when you dial this number from anywhere in the world from a mobile phone, your position is triangulated and given to the emergency service of you choice.

Now this sounds like a great idea if something bad happens when you are out and about, maybe off the beaten track ( as long as you have reception )

quite a bit on google about it.


robbi

[MrEd]

happens with 999 aswell in the UK, i know this cos i pocket dialled it once and they knew where i was........

112 has been around for years

[widu13]

Not true at all about the location. A 999/112 call will give the landline location, not the mobile. If needed a cell triangulation can be done on the phone, but it is not done automatically as it costs about £180ish. GPS is not linked to the Emergency services. There is a rumour that in the USA all phones have GPS modules- I doubt this somehow.

Incidentally in the cities a triangulation can narrow the location down to a small area BUT it's a city. Imagine the location being Trafalgar Square. In rural areas the location can be as obscure as a bearing from a single transmitter!

[MrEd]

Not true at all about the location. A 999/112 call will give the landline location, not the mobile. If needed a cell triangulation can be done on the phone, but it is not done automatically as it costs about £180ish. GPS is not linked to the Emergency services. There is a rumour that in the USA all phones have GPS modules- I doubt this somehow.

Incidentally in the cities a triangulation can narrow the location down to a small area BUT it's a city. Imagine the location being Trafalgar Square. In rural areas the location can be as obscure as a bearing from a single transmitter!

well i was at brands hatch, pocket dialled 999 without realising, hung up without realising, then they rung me back and asked if i was alright, i said i was and they said could i confirm i was at brands hatch, which i did as i was standing by druids at the time....... now how did they know that. and i was on a mobile......

[Robbi]

oh, that really very different to what we were told today by our first aid trainer who claimed this was one of the best and most useful "tools" to quick response in locating people in trouble in isolated or remote places, really speeding up medical assistance where needed.

I'll have to do some more checking me thinks

Cheers

Robbi

[widu13]

The nearest cell tower is usually given. I know this as I have to use cell triangulation at work.

[jonajuna]

i cant see it costing £180 to triangulate from mobile masts, especially for emergency services. id imagine provision of that service would be part of the license conditions on the mobile ops?

my phone shows me my postion calculated from transmitters onto google maps for nothing (in addition to the gps) and i have a service that is linked to my sons mobile that costs me a few pence per "search". not that ive ever used it in "anger" just subbed to it to see how it worked!

agreed its far from accurate in rural areas, i live on the edge of a small town and my position is "within 3 km", cities can go down to tens of metres i understand, depending on exact location of you to the transmitters

whether its done routinely from all or just some of the call centres, who knows?, not me

[g4ghb]

I was told that they could tell the location as well.....

also I was under the impression that there is an 'emergency' bit of the battery that is not used normally but is invoked if the battery is low and on a 112 call.... a kind of emergency reserve. Not sure if that is true either but nice to think so....

[Robbi]

heard that as well today mate

[hiho]

the last new moible i got 2-3 years ago, i could dial; 911 and 112 with the keypad locked but not 999.

[dorkingbushcraft]

you dont need reception to make emergency calls, and i dont think you need a sim card either.

[Robbi]

interesting

[MK-MIKE]

I'm ex-ambulance service and spent a large portion of my time 'modernising' the dispatch function. 112 is the Pan-European emergency service number that compliments the UK 999 number. A call made on either 112/999 is automatically triangulated to provide the callers position (phones with in-built GPS or A-GPS will provide more accurate GPS positioning). The introduction of this service in early 2000/2001 made a dramatic improvement in obtaining the location of an incident and getting help there quickly. You DO require a phone signal (albeit it does not have to be your mobile provider, but a cellular signal is required) the mobile doesn't require a SIM card to make an emergency call (but some older phones require a SIM as they were built prior to the no-SIM emergency call requirement)
as part of a US program called E-911 mobiles will be required to have some GPS capability (most low end units will have Assisted GPS receivers (A-GPS) to provide automated positioning during 911 calls. I'm not aware of this being mandatory in the UK but it would seem sensible.

Hope this helps :-)

[Robbi]

super reply Mike, thanks for that. It is a great idea isn't it.

Cheers

Robbi

[jambowl]

Good thing about emergency numbers like 112 or 999 is you can dial it from your mobile even when keypad is locked.

[mikeybear]

Good thing about emergency numbers like 112 or 999 is you can dial it from your mobile even when keypad is locked.

I consider this a disadvantage !!!! pocket dialling ......

[maddave]

The other one is that near most international airports you can dial 911 for emergency services too

[littlewolf]

In the UK you can call the emergency services using a mobile on 999, 911, or 112 regardless of wether the phone is locked or sim free.

The idea being a vistitor from Europe or the States can always get help if needed without any confusion. Good Idea me thinks

[dasy2k1]

you dont need reception to make emergency calls, and i dont think you need a sim card either.

you dont need a sim but you do need some reception but not necessarily your own network any network will do for an emergancy call, in fact when you dial 999 or 112 your phone picks up as many cells as it can reach regardless of operator. this allows triangulation to be made more quickly as there is more chances of 3 cells being within range.

there used to be a differance as to how 999 and 112 calls were handled on mobiles but this has long since ceased to be the case.

incidently you can dial 112 from a landline too, and it works anywhere in the EU which is great if you dont know the local number(s)

[xylaria]

I have made a 999 call beside the A50 and ambulance had serious issues finding my location, If it wasn't for a 6'6" cyclist in luminous yellow the driver wouldn't of seen us. I was in an suburban area with good coverage to trianglate position.

You need a signal to make a 999 call. The peak district and rural wales has a lot of dead spots. You should never rely on having a phone as your only means of getting attention. The dead spots are nearly always at the bottom of the really big hill you have just fell down.

[bashabuddy]

I can def be of help with this one. I currently work for the ambulance service actually dispatching ambulances 12hrs a day.
Recently the mobile phone providers have started using ROAMing calls. (recently as much as in last 3month). This facility enables your mobile to 'cherry pick' the strongest signal after your subscribed network. The only issue with this service is that the then recieving service doesnt automatically get your mobile number.

The triangulation of mobile phones also is done almost instantly. It will initally give us the transmitter the call was received from. Then if the signal is triangulated it gives us a percentage of probabilty of being in that area. again this information is lost if not using your normal provider. the message we get satates (1234) 567890 is 85% prob. to grid SE 12345,67891. This can then be made even more acurate with a phone call to the provider.

999/112 is exactly the same emergency operator, not a special dedicated mobile operator.

HTH

[Itzal]

I can def be of help with this one. I currently work for the ambulance service actually dispatching ambulances 12hrs a day.
Recently the mobile phone providers have started using ROAMing calls. (recently as much as in last 3month). This facility enables your mobile to 'cherry pick' the strongest signal after your subscribed network. The only issue with this service is that the then recieving service doesnt automatically get your mobile number.

The triangulation of mobile phones also is done almost instantly. It will initally give us the transmitter the call was received from. Then if the signal is triangulated it gives us a percentage of probabilty of being in that area. again this information is lost if not using your normal provider. the message we get satates (1234) 567890 is 85% prob. to grid SE 12345,67891. This can then be made even more acurate with a phone call to the provider.

999/112 is exactly the same emergency operator, not a special dedicated mobile operator.

HTH

Agreed, I was present at a demo the other day, when you call you are instantly tracked.

[Melonfish]

Reminds me of an emergency phone i saw in wales. apparently it did have a full keypad on it until they clocked people phoning australia with it (free phone see?)
so they replaced the keys, it now only has "1, 2, 3" on there.
i'll post a pic tonight but it made me laugh because people who don't know the 112 number will be wondering how to dial the numbers to add up to 999

[MrPhil]

Is there a separate number to call if you require the coastguard - or was there?

I only ask as I seem to remember something from the vague depths of my mind from when I was a Scout (some 20 years ago).

[Itzal]

Is there a separate number to call if you require the coastguard - or was there?

I only ask as I seem to remember something from the vague depths of my mind from when I was a Scout (some 20 years ago).

Nope, 999/112, should task all emergency services, the police do mountain Rescue, not sure but think the coast guard are tasked separately via their own control room through 999/112.

[MrPhil]

If I needed the coastguard i would probably have called 999 and asked them for the coastguard, its all good to know.

[Crowe]

I met one of the designers of the 911E program in the US and was told 'all 3G network phones transmit precise coordinates when connected to 911 (the emergency no in the US) so the call can be tracked to GPS accuracy'
Interesting thread
Crowe

[bashabuddy]

Yea ambulance service now deal with Mountain rescue in Yorkshire direct too! And yep 999 for coast guard too!

[Itzal]

Yea ambulance service now deal with Mountain rescue in Yorkshire direct too! And yep 999 for coast guard too!

Didn't realise ambo tasked MRT's I know they request help but thought all that was from old bill.

[bashabuddy]

Yea .. sometimes easier for us to ring MRT or Fell Rescue/Cave rescue etc. sort of cuts out the middle man. Police generally dont like to get involved with sprained ankles or fractures out in bushy land. Always seemed like going round the houses for a medical emergency! Especially as we usually deploy the Jellicopter too........