Silent 999 calls: blame the technology
Posted 13 July 2007 at 8:21AM by Simon Dickson in Email and communications
I noted with interest that the 999 emergency phone number celebrated its 70th birthday at the end of June. The BT press office took the opportunity to publish some fascinating facts about the service, of which one in particular stood out: around 40 per cent of the 80,000 calls answered each day do not involve actual requests for help. Most of these are calls made by children playing with telephones, or accidental button-presses in pockets or handbags.
Indeed, if you look back over the last thirty years, the introduction of new technologies have coincided with increases in 'accidental' 999 calls. First it was pushbutton phones rather than dials in the late 1980s; then after a pretty steady rate in the 1990s, the rapid spread of mobiles led to a huge jump in 999 calls around 2001. Ensuring you use your mobile's keypad locking function is a start, but it may not stop all accidental dialling: the Met Police say many phones will still let you dial the European standard number, 112 (which works throughout the EU).
Tags: 999, bt, keypad, lock, mobile phones, police
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