New non-emergency police number - 101
Thames Valley Police has gone live today with 101, the new national single non-emergency number, which will replace the 0845 8 505 505 number.
Both numbers will run side-by-side until the end of March, but if demand for the 0845 8 505 505 number drops it may be discontinued earlier.
Calls to 101 (from both landlines and mobile networks) cost 15 pence per call, no matter what time of day the call is made, or the duration of the call.
Everyone calling the police for non-emergency matters will now know exactly how much a call will cost them, and can be assured of equal access whether they are on a pay-as-you-go mobile or a home landline.
The routeing will be based on the same system as 999 calls which links a caller's dialling code to the police force that covers that geographic area. Calls from a landline will be routed to the nearest police force that covers the area's dialling code. If the caller is using a mobile, the call will be routed using the location of the mast that the phone is transmitting from.
If a call is made to 101 within a force area that has not yet 'gone live', the caller will hear a recorded message telling them to redial using the relevant non-emergency number.
(from a Thames Valley Police press release)
Richard Fairhurst · Mon 14 Nov 2011, 11:15 · Link