[size=55:39z29okk]novinite

All Emergency Calls in Bulgaria to be Redirected to 112 from October



All emergency calls will be redirected to 112 starting October 03, 2011, according to Stoyan Gramatikov, Head of Directorate "
National 112 system"
.

Speaking at a Tuesday press conference, he explained that the step would boost cooperation among the units.

"
We did not stop the other emergency numbers all at once because they are popular with the people, but once we make sure that 112 is universally recognizable, we can safely deactivate the others. Starting next Monday, regardless if you dial 150 (ambulance), 160 (fire brigade) or 166 (police), you will be connected to 112"
, Gramatikov stated.

To give a clear picture of the situation, he explained that seven European countries had disabled their other emergency phone lines, leaving 112 as a one-stop emergency number, while seven others had left their existing emergency hot lines open alongside 112.

He told journalists that an estimated 66% of Bulgarians were currently familiar with the112 universal emergency number.

"
Bulgaria is among the top performing EU countries in this respect. Three years ago, as little as 21% of the local population was aware about the existence of 112"
, Gramatikov said.

On a positive note, the head of the "
National 112 system"
unit pointed out that Bulgaria had a 50-60% rate of fake calls to 112, compared to 90% in some EU countries.

EU Institutions have declared February 11 as "
European 112 Day"
.

[size=55:cppsl6cr]Sofia echo

All emergency services calls in Bulgaria now through number 112



All emergency services calls in Bulgaria now go through the special number 112, meaning that the country finally has come into line with European Union requirements, Bulgarian National Television said.

All emergency services calls in Bulgaria now go through the special number 112, meaning that the country finally has come into line with European Union requirements, Bulgarian National Television said.

The calls of those dialling previous emergency service individual numbers including 150, 160 and 166 all are being redirected to 112.

112 is the EU emergency number, and calls dialled to that number within the bloc are directed to the relevant local service.

However, Stoyan Gramatikov of Bulgaria's 112 service cautioned that in areas close to national borders, it was possible that mobile phone users could find their calls directed to the services of a neighbouring country.

This problem was caused not by the 112 service itself but by mobile phone roaming technology, he said. It could be overcome by users manually setting their phones to use local networks.

He said that the old emergency services numbers would continue to work until there was certainty that everyone was familiar with the 112 number.

The 112 number has no prefix and calls are free of charge.