Editing Emergency telephone number (section)

== Mobile telephony ==
Mobile phones can be used in countries with different emergency numbers. This means that a traveller visiting a foreign country does not have to know the local emergency numbers. The mobile phone and the [[Subscriber Identity Module|SIM card]] have a preprogrammed list of emergency numbers. When the user tries to set up a call using an emergency number known by a [[GSM]] or [[3G]] phone, the special emergency call setup takes place. The actual number is not even transmitted into the network, but the network redirects the emergency call to the local emergency desk.  Most GSM mobile phones can dial emergency numbers even when the phone keyboard is locked, the phone is without a [[SIM card]], emergency number is entered instead of the [[Personal identification number|PIN]] or there is not a network signal (busy network).

Most GSM mobile phones have '''[[112 (emergency telephone number)|112]]''', '''[[999 (emergency telephone number)|999]]''' and '''[[911 (emergency telephone number)|911]]''' as pre-programmed emergency numbers that are always available.<ref name="IETF">{{cite web |date=15 May 2008 |title=Guidelines to select Emergency Number for public telecommunications networks |url=https://datatracker.ietf.org/documents/LIAISON/file562.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214012141/https://datatracker.ietf.org/documents/LIAISON/file562.pdf |archive-date=14 February 2012 |access-date=6 May 2012 |publisher=[[International Telecommunication Union]] |page=4}}</ref> The SIM card issued by the operator can contain additional country-specific emergency numbers that can be used even when roaming abroad. The GSM network can also update the list of well-known emergency numbers when the phone registers to it.

Using an emergency number recognized by a GSM phone like ''112'' instead of another emergency number may be advantageous, since GSM phones and networks give special priority to emergency calls. A phone dialing an emergency service number not recognized by it may refuse to roam onto another network, leading to trouble if there is no access to the home network. Dialing a known emergency number like ''112'' forces the phone to try the call with any available network.

On some networks, a GSM phone without a SIM card may be used to make emergency calls, and most GSM phones accept a larger list of emergency numbers without SIM card, such as ''112'', ''911'', ''118'', ''119'', ''000'', ''110'', ''08'', and ''999''.<ref>[https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_ts/122100_122199/122101/09.01.00_60/ts_122101v090100p.pdf Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Service aspects; Service principles (3GPP TS 22.101 version 9.1.0 Release 9)], topic 10.1.1 Identification of emergency numbers, clause C</ref> However, some GSM networks will not accept emergency calls from phones without a SIM card. For example, to decrease the risk of [[Nuisance call|nuisance calls]], French and British networks typically did not allow emergency calls without a SIM card.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://docdb.cept.org/download/3552|title=ECC Report 324|website=European communication office}}</ref>{{Update-inline|reason = You can now|date=March 2025}}

The GSM phones may regard some phone numbers with one or two digits as special service codes. It might be impossible to make an emergency call to numbers like ''03'' or ''92'' with a mobile phone. In those cases the emergency number has to be called by using a landline telephone or with an additional first/last digit (for example 922 or 992 instead of 92 and 003 or 033 instead of 03).<ref>{{cite web |title=Russia: Emergencies |url=http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g294459-s603/Russia:Emergencies.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020162648/http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g294459-s603/Russia:Emergencies.html |archive-date=20 October 2014 |access-date=13 October 2014}}</ref>

In the United States, the [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]] requires networks to route every mobile-phone and payphone 911 call to an emergency service call center, including phones that have never had service, or whose service has lapsed.<ref name="FCC wireless">{{cite web |date=8 October 2008 |title=Wireless 911 Services |url=http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/wireless911srvc.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090507191953/http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/wireless911srvc.html |archive-date=7 May 2009 |access-date=5 April 2009 |publisher=Federal Communications Commission}}</ref><ref name="FCC payphone">{{cite web |date=26 June 2008 |title=Calls Made From Payphones |url=http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/Payphones.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090307014744/http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/Payphones.html |archive-date=7 March 2009 |access-date=5 April 2009 |publisher=Federal Communications Commission}}</ref> As a result, there are programs that provide donated used mobile phones to victims of domestic violence and others especially likely to need emergency services. Since 2020, emergency responders have been able to better locate callers who dial 911 on their cellphones from indoors as the U.S. wireless industry improved caller-location for the majority of such calls. The "heightened location accuracy," available to supporting networks and handsets, can find callers through nearby devices connected to [[Wi-Fi]] or [[Bluetooth]] that are logged with a specific location in a special emergency-services database.<ref>{{cite news |title=Deal to spur better 911 call locating for U.S. cellphone users |url=https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-wireless-911/deal-to-spur-better-911-call-locating-for-u-s-cellphone-users-idUKKCN0IZ00N20141115 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180323155756/https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-wireless-911/deal-to-spur-better-911-call-locating-for-u-s-cellphone-users-idUKKCN0IZ00N20141115 |archive-date=23 March 2018 |access-date=15 November 2014 |work=Reuters}}</ref>

Mobile phones generate additional problems for emergency operators, as many phones will allow emergency numbers to be dialed even while the keypad is locked. Since mobile phones are typically carried in pockets and small bags, the keys can easily be depressed accidentally, leading to [[pocket dialing|unintended calls]]. A system has been developed in the UK to connect calls where the caller is sent to an automated system, leaving more operators free to handle genuine emergency calls.<ref>{{cite news |date=23 May 2002 |title=Technology tackles bogus 999 calls |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2002446.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040413073157/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2002446.stm |archive-date=13 April 2004 |access-date=1 May 2010 |work=BBC News}}</ref>