Emergency telephone

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Emergency telephone in a subway station

An emergency telephone ( NRT for short ) is a telephone system that is used in an emergency to establish a telephone connection with an ambulance control center and to request help there. They are usually located in central public places, in green areas and parks, and at regular intervals along important road connections. Furthermore, emergency telephones are located in places where dangerous situations can occur more frequently (such as in elevators, tunnels or on beaches).

The use of the emergency telephone is easy to understand and free of charge. In order to make the emergency telephone clearly visible from afar, the housing is given a striking signal color and corresponding lettering (such as SOS or emergency call ). The coloring is different around the world. The person seeking help can find the emergency telephone more quickly by means of signposting (possibly also with distance information).

Dedicated emergency telephones can only be used to make calls to emergency services, but emergency telephones are often part of traditional public telephone booths. Telephone booths with an emergency call function installed in Germany have a special lever that can be used to dial the emergency call free of charge. In the case of German telephone boxes, a distinction is made between a police emergency call and alerting the fire brigade.

With the advent of cellular communications and the widespread availability of cell phones, the importance of emergency telephones has decreased. High costs from operation and repair (mostly due to vandalism ) have led to a decline in the spread of emergency telephones.

A further development of the emergency telephone for senior citizens or disabled people is known as the house emergency telephone . In rare cases, emergency telephones also offer the possibility of telephone counseling . Corresponding devices are located on bridges or cliffs with a high suicide rate, for example .

History in Germany

Historic emergency call box "iron policeman", issued at the German Police University

From 1924, 30 police road detectors were installed in the streets of Berlin for the first time . Police officers in the road inspection service were able to contact the responsible police station using the detectors connected to the telephone network. This served, for example, to request support from a raid squad , of which 18 were on standby in Berlin. The police station was also able to call the officer on duty on the street by means of a signal bell. After positive experiences, the Prussian Ministry of the Interior issued the general installation of this facility in 1926.

As a further development of such road detectors from the Weimar Republic , an emergency call facility for free alerting of the police by the population was presented at the International Police Exhibition in Essen in 1956. This so-called "iron policeman" was widely used. In North Rhine-Westphalia , for example, up to 3,000 of the light green pillars were set up long before a uniform, free emergency call was possible from telephone booths . The iron policeman was about 2.20 meters high and marked with an illuminated text line “Police” or “POLIZEI + FEUER” on the roof. A yellow rotating beacon formed the top of the column . It was activated when a citizen made contact with the police by operating a toggle switch using a hands-free device . In turn, the control center could call every single call column, whereupon the rotating beacon signaled the call to police officers on site. The “iron policeman” is still doing his job here and there. Newer models are made of plastic, are red instead of light green, the toggle switch has been replaced by a push button and the rotating beacon is missing.

With similar telecommunication technology and operation, but housed in a box, police call points in front of police stations that were not permanently manned offered the opportunity to call for help.

1955 began to set up emergency telephones on German motorways. Since 1999 the emergency telephones have been queried by GDV Dienstleistungs-GmbH (GDV DL) of the Association of German Insurers .

How it works in Germany

Police reporter from Neumann, Mülheim (Ruhr) in front of the Aachen police station Jesuitenstrasse, 2015
Close-up of an emergency telephone

Incoming emergency calls are accepted by the car insurer's emergency number . You will be forwarded to the responsible rescue coordination center. Breakdown reports are passed on to the desired breakdown service. The responsible telecommunications master offices are responsible for the technical maintenance of the emergency telephones on the motorways.

The once around 7,000 emergency telephones on federal and country roads in Germany were operated by the Björn Steiger Foundation and the Jürgen Pegler Foundation . The query was made either by the emergency call of the car insurer or by the responsible police or rescue control center. On June 29, 2011, the Björn Steiger Foundation announced that the pillars would be dismantled in all federal states except Baden-Württemberg by the end of 2011. In mid-2011 there were only 2,000 emergency telephones in operation by the Björn Steiger Foundation. They can no longer be financed and have become superfluous due to the increasing use of mobile telephones .

On the other hand, no binding decision has yet been made about the whereabouts of the 16,000 or so emergency telephones on German motorways; For the time being, newly built sections will still be equipped with emergency telephones and the existing buildings will be maintained. Furthermore, modernization measures are currently underway at the central technology. In addition, three study projects were launched to determine whether the infrastructure of the motorway emergency network could be used for advanced traffic technology in the future. Two of these projects are currently in the status of a feasibility study. Only in one of the projects is a practical test on the open road to be expected in the medium term.

The statistical number of calls of around 700 actuations per day shows a clear need. The emergency telephones are still used extensively, especially during the main travel times. Even if the cellular networks are overloaded (e.g. major damage or a defective landline network), the number of calls in the corresponding area increases significantly. A significant increase in the number of calls is also recorded in severe frost.

With 263 emergency calls in 2016, the most frequently used emergency call column was a column on the A5 between Weiterstadt and Langen / Mörfelden-Walldorf at kilometer 513.3. A total of 53,000 emergency calls were made in 2016.

When using some emergency telephones (e.g. on the motorways) it is important to report the number of kilometers of the current section of road in order to clearly define your own position. To find the nearest emergency call column, small direction arrows are attached to the delineator posts , which show where the nearest column is.

Technically, the system is considered a “special means of communication”, as it meets different requirements than conventional landline telephones: Among other things, cable paths of up to 60,000 meters are laid without reinforcement . Modern emergency telephones can contact an emergency control center via ISDN , Ethernet ( IP telephony ) and also via GSM . A location identifier is also transmitted with these devices . All generations currently in operation should be able to transmit the location of the telephone in the event of an emergency call. New generations from the ANE 90 model onwards master simple polling that regularly checks the availability of the telephone. The current generation ANE 2000 also has an automatic function control. It can check itself (including loudspeaker and microphone), independently adjusts the necessary gain and adjusts it if necessary. With this model it is also possible to assign different recipients to the breakdown button and the emergency call button.

The ANE80 emergency telephones already have location signaling, which, however, is prone to failure. The operational readiness can only be determined by means of a test call. The last bastion in Germany for ANE80 technology is the A95, south of Munich. During the summer of 2018, ANE2000 emergency telephones will be set up here.

Emergency telephones based on GSM are occasionally in use, mostly as an emergency solution on construction sites. Telephones with Voice-over-IP technology are currently not being used on a large scale.

The problem with VoIP emergency telephones (e.g. ANE3000) is the relatively high energy consumption of the network components, which also have to function in the event of a power failure. This makes this special type only suitable for limited areas (e.g. road tunnels)

Emergency telephones that are located outside of the autobahn are usually connected to the rescue control center or the police via the Deutsche Telekom cable network . Telephones operated by the Björn Steiger Foundation are connected to a call center via the cellular network.

The German Bahn AG operates its own emergency telephones, some means of cable, but also via GSM-R are connected.

How it works in Austria

Telephone emergency number on the Danube Cycle Path in Emmersdorf an der Donau , Austria (2019)

In Austria there are emergency phones only on motorways and expressways. The number of kilometers is only indicated on the VoIP emergency telephones - recognizable by their angular design. On the old Siemens DTMF pillars, the serial number of the emergency call pillar is written in capital letters. The emergency call is to the road maintenance of the ASFINAG issued. They also have a reflector combined with a flashing light that flashes in the event of particular dangers, especially if the wrong-way driver is warned. Columns of the oldest design had flash tubes for this purpose , the last design used LED technology. Emergency telephones are usually set up in pairs opposite each other on the motorway so that nobody is tempted to cross the lanes on foot. The phones are on motorways and expressways at a distance of 1.5 km. The direction of walking to the nearest emergency call column is indicated by a triangular arrow on each delineator post .

Siemens emergency telephones are normally supplied with electricity via copper cables from the motorway maintenance depot. The transmission takes place in 6-wire technology. A twin wire for the transmission of the call - it is supplied with voltage from the motorway maintenance depot, a twin wire for the voltage supply with 48 V for charging the emergency batteries, as well as a twin wire, which is used for the transmission of the location identification via DTMF signal. The position and alarm flashing light in the column head is also switched by means of a DTMF signal. This complex solution has the advantage of being able to have a safe conversation with the motorway maintenance depot even when the power is off. In the event of an error, only the automatic location identification is missing. Until a few years ago, for reasons of cost, columns were installed in a “master & slave” system, in which a main column was always subordinate to a second. Today, however, this type of construction can only be found very rarely and is being replaced more and more due to its susceptibility to errors. Newer pillars (with GSM connection) are supplied with solar cells and batteries. Recently, the state-of-the-art VoIP (Voice over IP) columns from IT-Technology GmbH (e.g .: A2, A8) and Siemens have been installed throughout Europe for route modifications. These pillars are connected to the distributed emergency call server system (SaNORS) via the network using fiber optic technology or Ethernet. The signaling and voice transmission take place via the VoIP standard protocols SIP / SDP (Session Initiation Protocol) and RTP (Realtime Transport Protocol), within the framework of which the control (SDP) of warning lights etc. can also be carried out effectively. All motorway routes where complete renovations are being carried out will also be upgraded to this standard. Before ASFINAG took over the management of the motorways, the maintenance of the emergency telephones was the responsibility of the ÖBB , as they had more experience with communication facilities than the road administration. This regular maintenance is now awarded to various external companies in annual contracts.

In 2015 there were an average of five calls a day in Vienna. In July and August more because of refugees, some of whom have been abandoned or dropped off on the autobahn to find out where they are for themselves or to order a taxi. The emergency telephones have been around in Austria for almost 50 years.

See also

literature

  • Manual dictionary of electrical telecommunications , 2nd edition, Berlin 1970, volume 2:
    • Emergency call / emergency call facility; P. 1204
    • Emergency alarm; P. 1205
    • Police call and police emergency call system; Pp. 1284-1285
    • Police call boxes and police stations; P. 1285

Web links

Commons : Emergency telephone  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Image archive police stations / emergency call alarms ( Memento from February 17, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
  2. ↑ Emergency telephones on the motorway. In: Automotive Technology . 10/1955, p. 369.
  3. ↑ VkBl.-Vl. dated April 24, 2006
  4. ↑ Cell phone or prefer an emergency telephone? In: blitztip. April 25, 2012.
  5. ↑ On federal and state roads - by the end of the year all emergency telephones (of the Björn Steiger Foundation) will disappear ( memento of July 2, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) on: RP Online. June 29, 2011.
  6. ↑ Emergency telephones: five calls per day, orf.at February 11, 2016 , accessed February 12, 2016.