Dial 911 starting August

[Jollygoodfellow]

Emergency? Dial 911 starting August

MANILA, Philippines – The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has formally assigned code “911” as the national emergency hotline number beginning next month in compliance with a directive from President Duterte.

In Memorandum Circular (MC) 06-07-2016 dated July 21, the NTC said code “911” shall be made available for the use of the Philippine government, while Memorandum Order 07-07-2016 dated July 20 stipulates the use of code 911 as emergency hotline number nationwide.

“From Aug. 1, 2016, all public telecommunications entities shall route ‘911’ calls to the existing PATROL 117 Command Center until the new 911 Command Center is established and made operational. Thereafter, all ‘911’ calls shall be routed to the 911 Command Center,” NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba said.

Earlier this month, PLDT and Globe Telecom signed an agreement with the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Department of Information and Communications Technology and NTC for a transition to the new 911 system from the existing Patrol 117.

The agreement includes a recommendation for Duterte to issue an executive order transferring the authority of the current Patrol 117 Commission to a new legal entity to handle the 911 system.

In Davao City where the President had served as mayor for decades, code 911 has been in use for a long time for quick emergency response.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/07/24/1606064/emergency-dial-911-starting-august

[Dave Hounddriver]

Its a step in the right direction.  Even if they only man it with an operator who transfer your call to the right people it will be a good thing.  How many of us know the emergency contact numbers for police, ambulance and fire truck where we live?

I still believe that things progress at a snail's pace here, but JGF predicted there would soon be a bus system in Cebu and there is the start of one now.  Maybe the 911 system will be similar progress.

[robert k]

Was 117 the previous emergency number? I don't think it matters what the number is as long as there is one and the publicize it well. It would be funny though if they made it 411.

[Dave Hounddriver]

18 minutes ago, robert k said:

It would be funny though if they made it 411

Funnier, I think, if they made it 666

[JJReyes]

Our son mentioned once that you can dial any 3 numbers starting with "9" and the emergency operator will respond. While "911" is official, dialing "999" or "977" will be similarly answered. The reason is, during an emergency, the person may unknowingly dial the wrong set of numbers. 

Anyone know if this is true?

Similarly, when watching a movie or television show and someone gives a number, it always starts with "555". The number with this prefix does not exist.

[Dave Hounddriver]

9 minutes ago, JJReyes said:

it always starts with "555". The number with this prefix does not exist.

Not sure if you mean there are no numbers starting with 555 but if you think so then dial this one (in North America I mean):

 

Dial (area code) 555-1212 — You should get National Directory Assistance