1-1-2

'1-1-2' ('one-one-two') is the emergency telephone number for GSM and Europe.
In 1991, the European Union established 1-1-2 as the universal emergency number for all its member states. In most EU countries, 1-1-2 is already implemented and can be called toll-free from any telephone or any cellphone. The GSM mobile phone standard designates 1-1-2 as an emergency number, so it will work on such systems even in North America where it redirects to 9-1-1.
The number is now regulated across the EU by the Universal Service Directive^[1].

Contents

Origins

Implementation

See also

References

External links

Origins

Before 112 became a European and (via GSM) worldwide standard emergency number, it had already served for many decades as the fire brigade emergency number in Germany.
This choice of number has the following advantages:

★ A short number is easiest to remember, but since telephone numbers are a prefix-free code, a too short one would waste a large fraction of the number space. A 3-digit number wastes only 0.1% of the number space, which is justifiable for an emergency number.

★ Using at least two different digits significantly reduces the risk of accidental calls from numeric keypads. Vibrations, defect keys and collisions with other objects are much more likely to press the same key repeatedly rather than pressing a sequence of different keys. Accidental calls to emergency centers from mobile phones are a particular problem with same-digit numbers, such as the UK's 999^[2].

★ In the days of rotary dial telephones, using only those digits that require the least motion of a rotary dial (1 and 2) permitted a dial lock^[3] in hole 3 to effectively disable unauthorized access to the telephone network without preventing access to the emergency number 112. The same choice also maximized dialing speed.

Implementation

Countries which use the 112 number for police, medical and fire emergencies include:


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★ Seems to be used only for GSM phones, as a result of the GSM specifications -- but the USA (which also allows 112 for GSM phones) isn't mentioned here.

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★ (police only)

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★ (Carabinieri only)

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★ (police only)

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★ (starting 2008)

★ (police only)

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★ (ambulance and fire only)

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★ (ambulance only)

★ (Kharkiv only)

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★ (police only)

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See also

★ In case of emergency (ICE) in the mobile phone book.

★ 9-1-1 Emergency phone number for North America.

★ 999 British and Irish emergency number, together with 112

★ 0-0-0 Australian emergency number

★ 1-1-9 Emergency phone number in parts of East Asia

References

1. Directive 2002/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 March 2002 on universal service and users' rights relating to electronic communications networks and services. Article 26: Single European emergency call number. Official Journal of the European Union, L 108, 24/04/2002, p. 51
2. Mobiles blamed for emergency calls, BBC News, 2000-03-21.
3. Such locks were commonly used, e.g. "ABUS Telefonschloß T70 für Wählscheiben" in Germany.

External links

★ European Emergency Number Association-112.