While unwanted calls are increasing, emergency services have found a solution to no longer be confused with touts.
“Spam again!” This has become the reflex of millions of French people when their phone displays an unknown number. An understandable reaction at a time when cold calling and scams are increasing. However, this protective reflex could one day play tricks on us. What if this appeal that we have just rejected was actually crucial? What if it was the emergency services trying to contact us for vital information concerning a loved one?
This situation, far from being hypothetical, occurs often. Emergency services must regularly recontact people after an initial call. The reasons are multiple: obtaining details on an address, requesting additional information on a patient's condition, or even guiding relatives to the right hospital department.
The paradox is striking: while we conscientiously program traditional emergency numbers into our phones (15, 17, 18), we remain helpless in the face of incoming calls from the emergency services. Until now, the latter used a multitude of different numbers depending on the region and services, making it impossible for the general public to immediately identify them.
The French, exhausted by commercial canvassing, have developed self-defense reflexes: filtering applications, systematic blocking of unknown numbers, refusal to answer. Legitimate behavior, but which considerably complicates the task of emergency services. Faced with this observation, the authorities decided to act. Since October 1, 2024, a small revolution has taken place in the world of emergency services: from now on, all recalls from emergency services, whether SAMU, firefighters, police or the gendarmerie, are carried out from a single number: 0 800 112 112.
This number, free and easy to remember, is the solution to never again miss a crucial emergency call. Simply save it in your directory to immediately identify the origin of the call. An innovation which is part of the Naegelen law of 2020, aimed at combating fraudulent calls and strengthening telecommunications security.
Please note, however, that this number does not replace traditional emergency numbers. To contact emergency services, you must always dial 15 for SAMU, 17 for the police, 18 for the fire brigade or 112, the European emergency number. 0 800 112 112 is exclusively used by emergency services to contact users.
The device is accompanied by reinforced security. A new call authentication platform has been implemented by telephone operators, guaranteeing the reliability of the system. It is therefore impossible for scammers to pose as emergency services using this number.
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