111 (usually pronounced one-one-one) is the emergency telephone number in New Zealand. It was first implemented in Masterton and Carterton on 29 September 1958, and was progressively rolled out nationwide with the last exchanges converting in 1988. In 2008, 111 celebrated fifty years of service.
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Before the introduction of 111, access to emergency services was complicated. For the quarter of New Zealand’s then 414,000 telephone subscribers that were still on manual exchanges, one would simply pick up the telephone and ask the answering operator for the police, ambulance, or fire service by name. However, the problem was on manual exchanges the calls were answered first-come-first-served, which meant on busy exchanges, emergency calls could be delayed. For automatic exchanges, one would need to look up the local police, ambulance or fire service’s telephone number in the telephone directory, know the number off by heart, or dial the toll operator and asking them to place the call. The problem was that the numbers were different for each exchange, and again, there was no way to tell emergency calls apart from regular calls. Auckland, for example, had 40 telephone exchanges, and the telephone directory had 500 pages to search through to find the right number.[1][2]
Following the 1947 Ballantynes fire in Christchurch, fire officer Arthur Varley was recruited from the UK to bring about the reform of the New Zealand Fire Service. Familiar with Britain’s 999 system, he campaigned for there to be a universal emergency telephone number across the country. In mid-1957, a committee was set up to set up a common emergency number across New Zealand, consisting of the Post and Telegraph Department, the Police, the Health Department, and the Fire Service. In early 1958, the Postmaster General approved the provision of the service using the number 111.[2]
111 was specifically chosen to comply with the positioning of Britain's 999. With pulse dialling, New Zealand telephones pulse in reverse to the UK - dialling 0 sent ten pulses, 1 sent nine, 2 sent eight, 3 sent seven, etc. in New Zealand, while in the UK, dialling 1 sent one pulse, 2 sent two, etc. In the early years of 111, the telephone equipment was based on British Post Office equipment, except for this unusual orientation. Therefore dialling 111 on a New Zealand telephone sent three sets of nine pulses to the exchange, exactly the same as UK's 999.[3]
The telephone exchange in Masterton was replaced in 1956, and was the first exchange to have the technology installed for the 111 service. Hence Masterton and nearby Carterton were the first towns in the country to get the new service.[2]
The 111 service began on 29 September 1958 in the two towns. When a subscriber dialled 111 at either exchange, the call was routed by the automatic exchange onto one of three dedicated lines to the toll switchboard at the Masterton exchange (although the exchange connected calls automatically, long-distance (toll) calls still had to be connected manually through an operator). A red light glowed on the switchboard panel, and another red light would glow on top of the switchboard. Two hooters also sounded, one in the exchange and the other in the building passage. The first operator to plug in to the line took the call, and a supervisor would plug into the line to help if the situation became difficult.[3]
Dedicated lines connected the toll switchboard to the Masterton police station, fire brigade, and the hospital, where they were connected to a special red telephone. The line connected to the fire station, when it rang, also sounded the station alarm bells. A similar arrangement was employed at the police station, while at the hospital the call went to the local switchboard where it was identified by a red light and a distinctive bell.[3]
Among the first 111 calls was a call for an ambulance after an accident at a sawmill, and call to the fire service after a rubbish tip fire in Carterton. The first hoax call also occurred on the first day – a caller dialed 111 to ask for the address for a Carterton hotel.[3]
After the introduction of 111 in Masterton and Carterton, the service soon expanded to most major towns and cities. By the mid-1980s all but a few rural exchanges had the service, and by 1988, 111 was available on every exchange in mainland New Zealand.
The dates of installation in some major towns and cities were:-
| Auckland | 1968 |
| Christchurch | 1964 |
| Dunedin | 1966 |
| Gisborne | 1960 |
| Hamilton | 1960 |
| Invercargill | 1960 |
| Napier | 1960 |
| Nelson | 1960 |
| New Plymouth | 1961 |
| Palmerston North | 1961 |
| Timaru | 1960 |
| Wanganui | 1960 |
| Wellington | 1961 |
| Whangarei | 1962 |
In New Zealand in 2004, the police answering of emergency telephone service came under sustained scrutiny for systemic problems. On May 11, 2005, a severely critical independent report[4] into the Police Communications Centres was released. It expressed ongoing concerns for public safety, and identified inadequate management, poor leadership, inadequate training, understaffing, underutilised technology and a lack of customer focus as being underlying risks for systemic failures. The report made over 60 recommendations for improvement, including recommending a 15 to 20 year strategy to move away from using 111 as an emergency telephone number because of problems with misdialing due to the repeated digits.
Despite ambiguous reporting, these issues were never with the 111 service itself, and did not impact fire or ambulance services. The problems were restricted solely to the Police Communications Centres.
Any phone within New Zealand can dial 111, includes payphones/phoneboxes and mobiles/cellphones even when there is no money/credit on the phone.
Upon dialling 111, the Telecom operator will answer first: "111 emergency - Fire, Ambulance or Police?". The operator will then connect you to the relevant service. For situations requiring multiple services, the operator will put you through to the most urgently needed service (For example, in a car accident involving injuries, which requires both Ambulance and Police, the operator will put you through to Ambulance).
Apart from fire, ambulance, and police, 111 is the emergency number for civil defence, search and rescue (part of the police), and gas leaks (part of the fire service).
On average, only 34 percent calls to 111 are real emergencies. After the first false call made in a month, a NZ$6 charge is incurred.
In the hours following the Christchurch Earthquake on February 22 2011, the 111 service was knocked out in the region for several hours due to the extreme infrastructure damage. People in need of assistance had to call the police, fire, ambulance and search and rescue services directly.
Other than 111, the following national emergency numbers are used for different services:-
Other emergency numbers vary from area to area, or from service provider to service provider. These numbers can be found under the "Emergency Information" section on pages 2 and 3 of the local White Pages telephone directory.
In North America, this code cannot be used as an N11 number because of a conflict with the rotary alternative for star commands (11XX for *XX).
In South Korea, 111 is a special telephone number for reporting spies, international crimes, terrorism, corporate espionage, employment fraud and forgeries, and other crimes that threaten national security. It is operated by National Intelligence Service.[5]
In parts of the United Kingdom, a trial started in August 2010 for a non-emergency medical assistance line, using the number 111.
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