Misuse of 999.

[-bacchus-]

I recently used 999, to report an artic that turned over and was blocking the H/S and lanes 1 & 2 of the M5. You can imagine my surprise to recieve an SMS from Avon & Somerset constabulary telling me if I made any more malicious calls to 999, they would have my telephone disconnected.

[supraman2954]

-bacchus- said:

I recently used 999, to report an artic that turned over and was blocking the H/S and lanes 1 & 2 of the M5. You can imagine my surprise to recieve an SMS from Avon & Somerset constabulary telling me if I made any more malicious calls to 999, they would have my telephone disconnected.

I thought 999 didn't work with mobiles? Isn't 112 the emergency number for a mobile?

[Streetcop]

-bacchus- said:

I recently used 999, to report an artic that turned over and was blocking the H/S and lanes 1 & 2 of the M5. You can imagine my surprise to recieve an SMS from Avon & Somerset constabulary telling me if I made any more malicious calls to 999, they would have my telephone disconnected.

It would have been a mistake on their behalf...You did absolutely correct...well done..

There is a trend at the moment for 999 calls to be made for trivial matters from mobiles as it's free and the local police number would obviously have to be paid for. They've included your call in some of the trivial ones...forget about it..

999 or 112 works from mobiles..

Street

[supraman2954]

Streetcop said:

999 or 112 works from mobiles..

I stand corrected. However, I thought the point of 112 was that 999 was a too easy number to dial accidentaly, especially when in handbag? (not that I have experience of this).

[docevi1]

112 is designed so that if the network is full, and a 112 number is recieved someone is cut-off to allow you to access the network. 999 does not have the feature on the mobile networks AFAIK.

It's also the European number IIRC.

[dazren]

I would guess the 112 number goes back to the day of dialer phones (ie pre push button), where the quickest number to call would be 111, but the make it 112 because it is less likely to be abused by kids playing with the phone.

DAZ

[Pigeon]

999 was used because with pulse dialling - which used to be universal with dial phones, and still works - it's too easy to end up with 111 or 112 accidentally being "dialled" by a bad connection or someone jiggling the hook switch in an attempt to make the phone work. Europe didn't use it because they're silly foreigners The thing about mobile networks treating 999 and 112 differently is an urban myth AFAIK.

[tigerbear]

IIRC the reason that 112 is used with mobiles is that when 999 is called from a mobile the signal is bounced from one satelite to the next reciving 999 satelite then to a 999 call center(so your call could be answered nowhere near to were your calling from, where as with 112 your signal is bounced from the same satelite that recived it down to the nearest call center (so you have a higher chance of you call being answered somewhere close to you

[xxxxxxrich]

999 and 112 are both treated the same, the only reason we have 112 in the UK is because of Europe.

112 is actually a problem for telco's as well, I wonder if any of the BiB here have experienced this....

I used to work for a Cable TV company (Switch Engineer) and because the contract installers threw the cables into the houses to get it installed quickly they often damaged the cable, if the copper conductors of the pair became exposed often in bad rain they would start to short enough to cause a pulse. The old pulse dialling works by shorting the pair together for a short time indicating one pulse. Now if your lucky the damaged pair will sit and tap out a load of 1's but on the odd occasion they might have the right gap and create a 2. This would then end up at the BT Emergency centre as a discontinued 999 call (It seams that they were un aware of the digits dialled) and as many of the customers were Ex-Directory the BT operator would contact the Cable Company for a Name and address to send the BiB round.
So any of you BiB's that get sent to silent 999 calls, might be a faulty cable.....

[Pigeon]

Yeah, that sort of thing is exactly the reason why we didn't use 112 in the first place. Cable companies - brain the size of a peanut!

[silverback mike]

-bacchus- said:

I recently used 999, to report an artic that turned over and was blocking the H/S and lanes 1 & 2 of the M5. You can imagine my surprise to recieve an SMS from Avon & Somerset constabulary telling me if I made any more malicious calls to 999, they would have my telephone disconnected.

Who sent it. What time and date did you call. Mail me your number.

I will listen to the tape, and follow up your letter for you.

If they have got it wrong, I will make sure they know.

[towman]

Correct me if I`m wrong BiB, but is it not better to use a landline or motorway phone to call emergency services. My understanding is that mobile calls do not necessarily go to the relevant control room. Also, control room can accurately pinpoint your location.

This is not intended as a criticism of those who used a mobile, just a bit of extra info.

Steve

[TripleS]

silverback mike said:

-bacchus- said: I recently used 999, to report an artic that turned over and was blocking the H/S and lanes 1 & 2 of the M5. You can imagine my surprise to recieve an SMS from Avon & Somerset constabulary telling me if I made any more malicious calls to 999, they would have my telephone disconnected. Who sent it. What time and date did you call. Mail me your number. I will listen to the tape, and follow up your letter for you. If they have got it wrong, I will make sure they know.

Well this is nothing to do with me, but if I may say so that's good service Mike. Surely anything that might discourage people from genuinely trying to do something helpful needs to be minimised.

BTW that's an unusually high mileage BMW. Still going well is it?

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[silverback mike]

Well, if I can help I will and fortunately I am in a position where I can do something and follow up with any b*LL*ckings that need to be given. Bacchus did the right thing so instead of being criticised he should have been thanked.

The BMW is going like a train, you would think it has done 66k. Fantastic old beastie.

>> Edited by silverback mike on Saturday 21st August 20:13

[towman]

silverback mike said:

The BMW is going like a train

Please don`t mention trains - you`ll only get Bliarout all steamed up again!

Steve

[robocop]

towman said:

Correct me if I`m wrong BiB, but is it not better to use a landline or motorway phone to call emergency services. My understanding is that mobile calls do not necessarily go to the relevant control room. Also, control room can accurately pinpoint your location. This is not intended as a criticism of those who used a mobile, just a bit of extra info. Steve

You are right Steve,

Mobile phones often route via the nearest mast - which might not be in the Force area the incident is in. But they can still put you through quite quick. Roadside Emergency phones do give an accurate location if you are in an unfamiliar area though!

However, on the whole, mobile phones are a great help and alert us to a lot of things faster than looking for a landline ever did! Your number still comes up so we(the controllers/dispatchers) can always call you back to get an update/better directions or your home details, for a statement later if you witnessed anything!

Don't be affraid to use them!

All the best

[Gijoe]

Sorry if this is off topic but.....!....did you know you can dial 999 on any charged mobile without a SIM card AND when keylock is on!!!! I won't say try it but it happened by accident to me,....I received a phone call from the emergency services saying that they had received an unintelligable call from my mobile.....I assured them it was a mistake but nonetheless within 5 minutes received a knock on the door from local BiB. I assume they used mast triangulation which showed I was roughly in the area that the phone is registered.......wonders of modern technology!

[robocop]

Gijoe said:

.....I assured them it was a mistake but nonetheless within 5 minutes received a knock on the door from local BiB. I assume they used mast triangulation which showed I was roughly in the area that the phone is registered.......wonders of modern technology!

You need Senior Officers Authority to 'ping' a mobile Joe! Usually only used in more serious cases.

Were you at home?, cos they would just get your address from a 'subscribers check'!

Rgds

[Pigeon]

So if you ring 999 from a mobile but don't have a clue where you actually are at the time, they can't "ping" it ("traceroute" would be more apt ) to find out? Bummer.

[xxxxxxrich]

Pigeon said:

So if you ring 999 from a mobile but don't have a clue where you actually are at the time, they can't "ping" it ("traceroute" would be more apt ) to find out? Bummer.

Life in reality isn’t like the American TV shows. You can however pay to locate a mobile, I think the site is something like findaphone.com.