Samaritans is a registered charity aimed at providing emotional support to anyone in emotional distress, struggling to cope or at risk of suicide throughout the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, often through its telephone helpline. Its name derives from the biblical Parable of the Good Samaritan although the organisation itself is not religious.
An emergency telephone number is a number that allows a caller to contact local emergency services for assistance. The emergency number differs from country to country; it is typically a three-digit number so that it can be easily remembered and dialed quickly. Some countries have a different emergency number for each of the different emergency services; these often differ only by the last digit.
999 is an official emergency telephone number in a number of countries which allows the caller to contact emergency services for emergency assistance. Countries and territories using the number include Bahrain, Bangladesh, Botswana, Eswatini, Ghana, Guernsey, Hong Kong, the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Kenya, Macau, Malaysia, Mauritius, Poland, Qatar, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Trinidad and Tobago, Seychelles, Uganda, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and Zimbabwe.
A toll-free telephone number or freephone number is a telephone number that is billed for all arriving calls. For the calling party, a call to a toll-free number from a landline is free of charge. A toll-free number is identified by a dialing prefix similar to an area code. The specific service access varies by country.
Childline is a British counselling service for children and young people up to their 19th birthday in the United Kingdom provided by the NSPCC. They deal with any issues which cause distress or concern; some of the most common issues include child abuse, bullying, mental illness, parental separation and or divorce, teenage pregnancy, substance misuse, neglect, and psychological abuse.
In the United Kingdom, telephone numbers are administered by the Office of Communications (Ofcom). For this purpose, Ofcom established a telephone numbering plan, known as the National Telephone Numbering Plan, which is the system for assigning telephone numbers to subscriber stations.
Numbers on the Irish telephone numbering plan are regulated and assigned to operators by ComReg.
000 Emergency, also known as Triple Zero or Triple 0, and sometimes stylised Triple Zero (000), is the primary national emergency telephone number in Australia. The Emergency Call Service is operated by Telstra, and overseen by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), and is intended only for use in life-threatening or time-critical emergencies.
112 is a common emergency telephone number that can be dialed free of charge from most mobile telephones, and in some countries, fixed telephones in order to reach emergency services.
Missing People is a national organisation in the United Kingdom that offers assistance to people who run away and/or go missing and their families. It is a registered charity under English law.
119 (one-one-nine) is an emergency telephone number in parts of Asia and in Jamaica. From May 2020, 119 was introduced in the United Kingdom as the single non-emergency number for the COVID-19 testing helpline in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. From January 2022, 119 was introduced in Romania as the single non-emergency number for reporting cases of abuse, neglect, exploitation and any other form of violence against the child.
Telephone numbers in Switzerland are defined and assigned according to the Swiss telephone numbering plan administered by the Swiss Federal Office of Communications. The plan has been changed several times and the most recent reorganization was implemented in March 2002.
Lithuania uses an open telephone numbering plan with all phone numbers having nine digits, including the prefix "8", a 1–3 digit area code, and a 5–7 digit subscriber telephone number. The current plan was introduced in stages in 2001–2003, replacing Soviet-legacy area codes and altering some subscriber numbers.
Telephone numbers in Italy are managed by the Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni (AGCOM), a national regulatory authority for the communication industry located in Rome.
The regulation of telephone numbers in Germany is the responsibility of the Federal Network Agency of the German government. The agency has a mandate to telecommunications in Germany and other infrastructure systems.
Telephone numbers in Estonia follow a closed telephone numbering plan.
111 is a free-to-call single non-emergency number medical helpline operating in England, Scotland and Wales. The 111 phone service has replaced the various non-geographic 0845 rate numbers and is part of each country's National Health Service: in England the service is known as NHS 111; in Scotland, NHS 24; and in Wales, NHS111 Wales.
The common external power supply was a European Commission (EC) specification for a universal charger for smartphones sold within the European Union. The specification included the use of a USB Micro-B connector and adherence to the USB Battery Charging Specification.
101 is the police single non-emergency number (SNEN) in the United Kingdom (UK), which automatically connects the caller to their local police force, in a similar manner to the pre-existing 999 emergency number. The 101 service was created to ease pressure, and abuse of the existing 999 system. Hazel Blears, then a UK government minister in the Home Office, stated that the new system would "strengthen community engagement". In 2004, ten million 999 calls were made in the UK; however, 70% of those calls were deemed not to be an emergency.
Telephone numbers in the United Kingdom have a flexible structure that reflects their historical demands, starting from many independent companies through a nationalised near-monopoly, to a system that supports many different services, including cellular phones, which were not envisaged when the system was first built. Numbers evolved in a piecemeal fashion, with numbers initially allocated on an exchange-by-exchange basis for calls connected by manual operators. Subscriber numbers reflected demand in each area, with single digit telephone numbers in very rural areas and longer numbers in cities.
