short dialling code for suicide prevention hotlines [telecom]

A petition is asking the United States Federal Communications Commission to allocate a national three-digit number to suicide prevention hotlines.

This may not be technically possible, since all the codes of the format N11 have been allocated. A toll-free number that can be represented by letters that spell an easily-remembered name may be the only workable option for landline telephone users. For mobile users, a short number such as #4141 could be allocated. Outside North America, some countries may already have established national short numbers for suicide prevention hotlines.

In Toronto's subway system, trackside pay telephones are equipped with a button that places a free call to a local suicide prevention hotline. This feature takes advantage of the programmable buttons on certain models of payphone that allow single-button access to numbers such as taxi services, telecommunications carrier offices or (in this case) a hotline.

Nigel Allen, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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Posted 5 years ago by Nigel Allen in General Telecommunications Forum

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