would it have better,,maybe easier for children if the emergency phone number was "123" rather than "911"??

Question

I wonder how they picked 911 anyway? It seems to me that 123 would have been much better,,,what do think?...I realize it would be a disaster to change it now,,but am just curious about it...thx..

thank you all for pointing out what should have been obvious to me...you are all right and I was wrong..thx. again..wish i could give you all "best answer" gonna have to let you guys pick it..ok?...thx. again

Answer 1

Children are smarter than what we give them credit for. 1-2-3 is a normal way of counting. 911 means Emergency.

Answer 2

No, because 123 is something children are taught before pre-school.

911 is good because when you say "911" it has a certain connotation that means "things are serious." If the number were 123, children would always dial it for fun.

Answer 3

Notice when in someone's company or the school you have to "dial 9" to get out of their phone exchange. And even at home you dial "1" before you specify a country or area code. Now that you have an open line by dialing "9" and "1" you really only dialing "1" as in top priority. And it works on any phone, whether in public or private exchanges. That makes 911 universal.

Answer 4

WOW--NOT PRACTICAL IF YOU UNDERSTAND THE PHONE SYSTEMS?

ALABAMA WAS THE FIRST STATE IN THE US TO ADOPT A 911 NUMBER FOR EMERGENCY RESPONSE SYSTEMS.(1968)

THE PHONE COMPANY OPERATES UNDER THE NANP (NORTH AMERICAN NUMBERING PLAN)
THE NPA (NUMBERING PLAN AREA CODES) USES 1 AS AN INTERNATIONAL DIRECTORY.
1= LONG DISTANCE CALLING. SO THE #1 IS NOT A NUMBER, THAT IS ALLOWED TO BE USED IN A PHONE NUMBER.
UNLESS AS STATED ABOVE TO ACCESS A L/D CARRIER SYSTEM.
HENCE 123 CANNOT BE UTILIZED SINCE 1 WOULD DIRECT THE CALLER TO L/D.

Answer 5

Easier, yes. Better, no. For the plain and simple fact that it would then be way too easy for a toddler who has just learned the ordinal numbers to begin dialing them, and every time he/she does so, tying up a phone line to the emergency dispatchers.

Doing that would be worse.. a whole lot worse.

Answer 6

Supposedly, the "9" was because England uses 999 and a senator's staff member visiting England noticed their system and thought we needed something similar, and "11" because we already used 411 for info.

http://www.911dispatch.com/911/history/background.html

Answer 7

we have a 11 thing going...411, 311, 911