911, was You're all over thinking this (was: Re: Vonage Selects TCS For VoIP E911 Service)

Mon Jul 25 11:10:30 UTC 2005

On Monday 25 Jul 2005 10:55 am, Peter Corlett wrote:
> 
> Does 112 work on non-GSM phones?

In most of Europe dialing 112 on any phone on a public phone network, mobile 
or fixed, should get you an emergency operator.

I think in some parts of Europe it may still get you the police, instead of a 
choice of emergency services, but in most cases that is sufficient, and a 
damn site better than wondering what the local emergency number is, or trying 
to decipher the explanation on a public phone box.

Whether you'll be able to make yourself understood once connected is another 
issue entirely.

My only concern is the UK government persists in teaching the old (local) 999 
number, to avoid confusing the terminally stupid who can't cope with the idea 
of remembering two emergency numbers. As a result UK citizens end up either 
not knowing what to dial when abroad, or having to remember which country 
they are in when dialing for help.