Brussels, 13/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - During the 112 Day, the European Commission announced that a new campaign for raising awareness would be launched, in an effort to increase knowledge about the European emergency number, which too few people are aware of (EUROPE 10549). The Commission provided assurances that this campaign would enjoy the collaboration of several large railway and aviation companies, which responded positively to the letter addressed to them by Commissioner Neelie Kroes (Digital Strategy) and Siim Kallas (Transport). The emergency number will be publicised without cost to taxpayers on e-tickets, in on-board magazines, on their company websites and through their staff. The list of participating companies can be consulted on http://www.112.eu. The Commission has also decided that every European can access a 112 smartphone application, in their own language. Neelie Kroes said, “112 only helps if people know about it. So we are working with travel companies to catch attention while people are en route to their destination". Siim Kallas said that, “112 is an essential safety tool in transport. The list of participating companies will be open all year long and judging from the interest shown, many more companies are likely to follow”.
The Commission has also published a report that provides a snapshot of the different languages to which 112 call centres can respond. So far, English can be used in 25 countries (besides UK, Ireland and Malta; 2) 14 countries (besides Belgium, France and Luxembourg) can deal with calls in French; 3) German can be used in 112 calls in 12 countries (in addition to Austria, Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg); 4) the Italians can use their language in five countries; 5) Russian speakers can dial the 112 number and obtain existence in their own language in eight countries; 6) in the United Kingdom, emergency call centres have interpreting services for 170 languages, whilst France provides the same service for 40 languages. (IL/transl.fl)