112 is the common emergency telephone number that can be dialed free of charge from any telephone or any mobile phone in order to reach emergency services (Ambulances, Fire & Rescue Service and the Police) in the European Union (EU), its candidates for accession, members of the EEA agreement, as well as several other countries in the world. 112 is also mandated to function as the emergency telephone number on any GSM phone system (with the exception of GSM 1900 in the United States, Canada and Mexico).^[1]

112 is managed and financed in the European Union by each Member State (country) which also decide on the organisation of the emergency call centres. The International Telecommunications Union recommends that member states that are selecting a primary or secondary emergency number choose either 911, 112 or both. ^[2]. 112 is one of two numbers (the other being the region's own emergency number) that can be dialed on most GSM phones even if the phone is locked.^[1] The GSM mobile phone standard designates 112 as an emergency number, so it will work on GSM phones even in North America where GSM systems redirect emergency calls to 911, or Australia where emergency calls are redirected to 000

Origins[link]

112 was first standardized by a decision of the EU Council in 1991 ^[3] and subsequently reaffirmed in 2002 by article 26 of the Universal Service Directive ^[4] and its subsequent amendments ^[5].

This choice of number has the following advantages:

• Using at least two different digits significantly reduces the risk of accidental calls from numeric keypads. Young children, vibrations, defective 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 centres from mobile phones are a particular problem with same-digit numbers, such as the UK's 999.^[6]
• 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^[7] 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. Additionally, in accordance to the previous point, prior to DTMF it was possible to dial "1" by shortly activating the hook, so repeatedly pushing the hook might result in calling 1-1-1. For this reason, Germany's police department emergency number was changed from 111 into 110.

Implementation[link]

Countries which use the 112 number for emergencies include:

E112[link]

E112 is a location-enhanced version of 112. The telecom operator transmits the location information to the emergency centre. The EU Directive E112 (2003) requires mobile phone networks to provide emergency services with whatever information they have about the location a mobile call was made. This directive is based on the FCC's Enhanced 911 ruling in 2001.

The new eCall project for automated emergency calls from cars is based on E1000.

Next Generation 112 (NG112)[link]

NG112 is defined by two major aspects:

• Interoperability between emergency services: NG112 enables the several Public Safety Answering Points to be part of a common emergency service IP-network, providing them with redundancy and interoperability features. This network should support data and communications needs for coordinated incident management between PSAPs and provide a reliable and secure environment for emergency communications.
• Communication between citizens and emergency services: NG112 is designed to enable citizens to reach an authority (e.g., PSAP) by calls using VoIP, text messaging, instant messaging, real-time text, pictures and videos. It could also provide emergency services with more data such as telematics and health data. NG112 enables the delivery of calls, messages and data to the appropriate Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) and other appropriate emergency entities and makes call handling easier.

European 112 Day[link]

Since 2009 and a tripartite convention signed by the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, 11 February (11/2) is the European 112 Day. At this occasion, events take place to promote the existence and the appropriate use of the EU emergency number.

Expert Group on Emergency Access (EGEA)[link]

Getting 112 to work across the EU is a complex task. It requires in particular coordination between civil protection administrations (the emergency authorities who handle the call) and electronic communications administrations (who have to make sure that a 112 call reaches the emergency operator). That is why the Commission decided to act at European level and set up the Expert Group on Emergency Access (EGEA) at the end of 2005.

The objective of the group is to deal with practical issues Member States are facing to provide an efficient and effective 112 service to citizens. This group seeks practical solutions to problems experienced by the emergency services at local, regional or national levels and deals with issues related to the application of new technologies for communication with emergency services.

European Emergency Number Association[link]

EENA, the European Emergency Number Association, is a Brussels-based NGO set up in 1999 dedicated to promoting high-quality emergency services reached by the number 112 throughout the EU. EENA serves as a discussion platform for emergency services, public authorities, decision makers, associations and solution providers in view of improving emergency response in accordance with citizens' requirements. EENA is also promoting the establishment of an efficient system for alerting citizens about imminent or developing emergencies.

In April 2012, The EENA memberships include 630 emergency services representatives from 43 European countries, 52 solution providers, 9 international associations/organisations as well as 26 Members of the European Parliament.

112 Foundation[link]

The 112 Foundation was created to promote the knowledge and appropriate use of the European emergency number 112. Its main objective is to provide all citizens and organisations willing to inform and educate on 112 with information materials and guidelines to organise information campaigns.

See also[link]

• 1122 Emergency phone number in Pakistan.
• 15 Emergency phone(Rescue Police) number in Pakistan.
• 000 Emergency phone number in Australia.
• 110 Emergency phone number in Iran and in Germany (Policecall, works parallel to European emergency number, 112 which reaches Fire/Rescue-Services).
• 111 Emergency phone number in New Zealand.
• 119 Emergency phone number in parts of East Asia.
• 911 Emergency phone number in United States and Canada.
• 100 Emergency phone number in India and Israel.
• 108 Emergency phone number in some parts of India for Fire, police and Ambulance.
• 999 Emergency phone number in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Poland (works parallel to European emergency number, 112) and Hong Kong. Also an emergency number in several non-EU countries.
• 124 Emergency phone number in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• eCall
• Emergency telephone
• In case of emergency (ICE) entry in the mobile phone book.
• International Mobile Satellite Organization

References[link]

External links[link]

• ec.europa.eu/112 - The European emergency number
• The 112 Foundation
• The European Emergency Number Association 112 (EENA)