How did we end up selectin 911 as the emergency number?

Question

I am curious... Why isn't it 733? Or 466? 822?

Sorry... It is "selecting", not "selectin"

Answer 1

It is not an area code or international calling code. Also, it was unlikely that someone would misdial it by hitting two buttons at once since the 9 and 1 are on opposite sides of the phone dial.
However, with calling cards and PBX systems at some companies, it is misdialed quite frequently. Then again, sometimes it is dialed on purpose but for the wrong reasons:
"What time is it?"
"There's a dog barking somewhere in the area keeping me awake"
[My favorite] "What's the non-emergency number?"

Those are all true things said to me after I have answered with "9-1-1 What is the emergency?"

Answer 2

Because at the time is was selected, there were no local exchanges or area codes using it.

The plan for all area codes at the time, was that the first digit was 2 - 9, the second digit was 0 or 1 and the third digit was 0 - 9.

The first digit of the first number of the area code could not be 0 because that was the number of the local operator.

The first digit of the first number of the area code could not be 1 because that was the number for dialing long distance.

All three digit local exchanges did not use 0 or 1 in the second digit because that prevented local numbers from being confused with area codes.

911 was available becuase it had not yet been assigned as an area code and it was not valid as a local exchange at the time.

733 was already a local exchange in many area codes.
466 was already a local exchange in many area codes.
822 was already a local exchange in many area codes.

911 could only ever have been an area code and it had not been been assigned.


Please note: many of the rules stated above have since changed after the adoption of the 911 emergency code was implemented.

Answer 3

The official history is AT&T had chosen the number 911, which met the requirements that it be brief, easy to remember, dialed easily, and that it worked well with the phone systems in place at the time. How the number 911 itself was chosen is not well known and is subject to much speculation. However, many feel that the number 911 was chosen to be similar to the numbers 2-1-1 (long distance), 4-1-1 (information, later called "directory assistance"), and 6-1-1 (repair service), which had already been in use by AT&T since 1966. Also, it was necessary to ensure that the 9-1-1 number was not dialed accidentally, so 9-1-1 made sense because the numbers "9" and "1" were on opposite ends of a phone's rotary dial.

Furthermore, the North American Numbering Plan in use at the time established rules for which numbers can be used for area codes and exchanges. At the time, the middle digit of an area code had to be either a 0 or 1, and the first two digits of an exchange could not be a 1. At the telephone switching station, the second dialed digit was used to determine if the number was long distance or local. If the number had a 0 or 1 as the second digit, it was long distance, and it was a local call if it was any other number. Thus, since the number 911 was detected by the switching equipment as a special number, it could be routed appropriately. Also, since 911 was a unique number, never having been used as an area code or service code (although at one point GTE used test numbers such as 11911), it fit into the phone system easily.

AT&T announced the selection of 9-1-1 as their choice of the three-digit emergency number at a press conference in the Washington (DC) office of Indiana Rep. J. Edward Roush, who had championed Congressional support of a single emergency number.

Just 35 days after AT&T's announcement, on February 16, 1968, the first-ever 9-1-1 call was placed by Alabama Speaker of the House Rankin Fite from Haleyville, Alabama City Hall to U.S. Rep. Tom Bevill (Dem.) at the city's police station. Bevill reportedly answered the phone with "Hello." Attending with Fite was Haleyville mayor James Whitt. At the police station with Bevill was Gallagher and Alabama Public Service Commission director Eugene "Bull" Connor (formerly the Birmingham police chief involved in federal desegregation). Fitzgerald was at the ATC central office serving Haleyville, and actually observed the call pass through the switching gear, as the mechanical equipment clunked out "9-1-1." The phone used to answer the first 911 call, a bright red model, is now in a museum in Haleyville, while a duplicate phone is still in use at the police station. Some accounts of the event claim that, "Later, the two (Bevill and Fite) said they exchanged greetings, hung up and 'had coffee and doughnuts.'"

In 1973, the White House urged nationwide adoption of 911. In 1999, President Bill Clinton signed the bill that designated 911 as the nationwide emergency number. Even though 9-1-1 was introduced in 1968, the network still does not completely cover some rural areas of the United States and Canada.

Answer 4

In many places up in New England (and possibly other areas) the emergency number is just changing to 911! Many people do not know this. They were 10 digit numbers that people had to put on their phones to remember. Most places by now have changed, but they still are changing, so they still exist. This is real trouble for visitors and passer-bys because if the number is not poster, then if they encounter an emergency by themselves, then they must need the #, and it would be especially bad if the person did not post them. But, if someone is going to call 911, then they need help, and would find someone who knows the number to call. Therefore, there would be no less calls.

Answer 5

Because 9 and 1 are diametrically opposed on a 10 key grid and would therefore hard to accidentally dial except in an emergency. The standard telephone operating systems recognize 1, 3, 7. and 10 digit combos. One digit would be a joke; 7, too hard to dial quickly. Verbally, 9-1-1 is easier to say than 7-3-3 or most other combos.

Answer 6

Cuz. u would ask the same question if it was 733 or 466 or 822.

Answer 7

This is a good question