Why "911"?

[Hagar]

One thing I have noticed from listening to phone-in programs on good ol' Radio 2 - formerly the Light Programme. The quality of telephone communication is now far worse worse than it ever was with the good ol' fashioned tin can + a piece of string. In fact some is so bad I can't tell what the person on the other end is trying to say. The operator service is equally bad & almost non-existent. If I wish to call my insurance company/gas company/electric company etc. I'm forced

[Fozzer]

Hi Hagar...!
...do you think that there may be a remote possibility that you and I, in our "advancing years", may be getting just a little bit "deaf"....?
...pardon...?
This can be confirmed by the gradual increase of the volume/tone control over the years, whilst listening to Radio 2/3/4....?
(Radio 1 is mostly a load of bo**ocks anyway...)... ...!

LOL...!

Cheers mate... ...!
Paul.

P.S. I know that many of my sound frequencies are slowly disappearing.....not to mention my eyesight... ...!

[Smoke2much]

It's still true about the Scotland Yard 'phone number...

Will

[Hagar]

Hi Hagar...!
...do you think that there may be a remote possibility that you and I, in our "advancing years", may be getting just a little bit "deaf"....?
...pardon...?
This can be confirmed by the gradual increase of the volume/tone control over the years, whilst listening to Radio 2/3/4....?
(Radio 1 is mostly a load of bo**ocks anyway...)... ...!

LOL...!

Cheers mate... ...!
Paul.

P.S. I know that many of my sound frequencies are slowly disappearing.....not to mention my eyesight... ...!

Speak for yourself Fozzer old bean. I'm a mere young sprog compared with some I could mention.

My hearing is perfect I tell you.......! Wassat you say? Come again?

Seriously, I'm sure you know that I'm right. The tiny microphones they use in phones these days are nowhere near the sound quality of the good ol' fashioned GPO patent chunky jobs. Not to mention that you spoke directly into the mic on the old handsets, it was not positioned somewhere around your eyeball.

[born_2_fly]

Also to scare yall more all nokia Mobile Phones have the emergency operator number programmed so you can dial 999 without unlocking the keypad i belive this is for most countries maybe not but it works here in England!

[C]

In the UK it's always been 999. Most likely since the telephone was invented. They probably changed it recently like they changed everything else. No wonder old fogies like me are permanently confused.

You, mean, they'll probably privatise it, and have lots of numbers like, 881-111, or 811-811 or for BT 811-500, and a call centre in Delhi?

Charlie

[Fredgirardo]

It is because the two number are at the extremity of the phone.

[OTTOL]

It is because the two number are at the extremity of the phone.

Then why not 733?  8)

Now for something completely different! ! !

Of course maybe N330 was talking Porsche    .... Porsche originally wanted to call the 911 a 901 - but Peugeot had rights on all '#01' numbers so it became '911'

Why are Ferrari's red? One of those two old codgers over in Engulund should know this.  ::)

[Smoke2much]

Ferrari is an Italian brand.

[Woodlouse2002]

Just remember folks, in the olden days if you wanted to contact scotland yard by telephone then you would have to pick up the ear peice and dial "Whitehall 1212".

Oh for the olden days...

[Woodlouse2002]

Also it is said that the Porche 911 was named so that all the american owners would know what number to dial when they crashed it.

[Hagar]

Just remember folks, in the olden days if you wanted to contact scotland yard by telephone then you would have to pick up the ear peice and dial "Whitehall 1212".

Oh for the olden days...

I forgot that Woody. Good one.

Of course, in the "olden days" (which was not really that long ago) you could confidently expect the call to be answered by a human being, well a police officer anyway.