can telephone noise dial 911?

Yes, it could, although it's unlikely to happen except in weird situations.

Old "pulse dial" systems (you're old enough to remember 'em :) ) dialed the number you wanted by doing the equivalent of rapidly picking up and hanging up, one pcikup/hangup per number dialed - So if you dialled a 9, there's be 9 "pick up, hang up" pulses. It used to be (and still is, most places) possible to dial a number without ever reaching for the dial or the keypad - It takes a quick finger, and the ability to count rapidly, but with a little practice, it's pretty easy.

Wet lines like you describe *CAN*, under the influence of wind and weather, dial various numbers - Basically, get a "semi-short" happening in the cable, so that your line looks "picked up", then have the short go intermittent, so that it's opening and closing at the right frequency (60:40 is the "correct" timing - 60% "off hook" followed by a 40% "on-hook" state then a return to the off-hook state - with *LOTS* of wiggle room) and you could be "calling" just about anywhere. Getting the "semi-short" to "rattle" 9 times, then pause, then once, then pause, then once again then short solid to hold the line open is statistically unlikely, but *FAR* from impossible.

It is more like that your line is tapped by your neigthbour or somebody else. This because there was no dial tone and a noisy sound, which occur when a another phone is operating in parallel. The chance that static electricity on the line can calling 911 is very small.

Alexander

Yes, it can happen, and some offices may be more susceptible than others. In the early 70s I was telco Plant Manager for NE Oregon and had one office that had several false 911 calls per day until the switching engineers made some changes.

The police are obligated to follow up on all 911 calls, and that's good.

Don

Sorry Alex, but your concept of somebody tapping the line is more unlikely than random shorting being able to generate three valid digits to ring up 911. Shorting the wires of a phone line together, such as what water getting into the lines causes, will indeed cause no dial tone and noise - to the system, the phone is off the hook. If there's been one "make/break" cycle, then it's exactly the same as if you picked up and dialed "1", which makes the dial-tone go away. Multiple makes and breaks with the right timing (and the timing is pretty loose) could conceivably "call" a phone in Finland, or China, or who-knows-where, with no humans being involved.

The odd thing isn't having it happen - it's having it happen to a specific number.

Hi Dave,

Yes it can happen. It happened to me a few months back and I also got a visit from the local constabulary. Ended up being the wireless phone that we had causing the problem.

When the next itemised bill came through, there were a lot of dialled numbers lasting for approx. 5 or six seconds and all numbers were in the

I think you can dismiss all the line hackings etc. If you can get hold of an itemised bill from your phone company, see if there are any other numbers on there that you don't recognize. Our emergency services number is 999, but the european 112 also works here. Don't know if it is the same for you?

All the best,

Tim

It seems to me that I read an article several years ago that an English (Great Britain) Exchange was having alot of false alarms due to

its possible i guess how ever, if that is the case i think you better have your lines checked.

There are lots of reasons for a noisy line, and that one is off the list.

I still don't understand why the UK went 999. I still remember as a kid having a pulse telephone, and to dial each nine (not that I have ever dialled 999) would take quite a few extra seconds than to dial say 111 !

Tim

It's 111 in New Zealand because the dials are reversed. You want an easy number to remember but not false calls.

Reversed dials? Coriolis effect I expect.

Tim

No, but it caused grief to anyone importing a phone. I'd send button style (but pulse dialling phones) to my buddy and he'd have to take all the buttons out and move them around.

Don Bruder wrote in news:44fb4e17$0$96218$ snipped-for-privacy@news.sonic.net:

Statistically speaking, it's probably more likely to have a phone dial a

Puckdropper

Australia has always had '000' & I always thought in the days of pulse/rotary dials that the time and/or energy involved was a drawback.

Imagine having been stabbed/shot/clubbed/heart attack/poisoned etc & managing to drag yourself to the phone only to have to stick your finger in the appropriate hole & rotate the dial all the way around '3' times.

don't you know that the murder rate is directly correlated to the increased use of the pulse telephone?

Thank you all for the replies. Very educational.

foil helmets on everyone!

What a load of paranoid nonsense

The sympton he described sound exactly like a line that has corroded through - maybe trees etc rubbing on th eline - if this is so then it "is most likely" that the two wires are makining intermittent contact

- this could easily be "ghost dialling" and 911 wouldn't be hard to do at all.

"static electricity" pah! The "noise " is caused by corroded wires - the current passes intermttently through through oxide causing hissing and crackles and whines and all sorts.

I bet trees/bushes,bad underground joint or an uncovered junction box are to blame

And I'd bet you're absolutely correct.

I thought the murder rate was directly correlated to the increased number of Jessica Simpson appearances?