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Bangkok, Thailand, Dec 5, 2018 -- Royal Thai Police and the telecom regulator plan to launch 191 as a single national emergency smart telephone number in early 2020 to consolidate all critical emergency calls into a single platform, embedded with location-based applications and connected to nationwide CCTV.

With a budget from the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), the proposal will be submitted to the government and cabinet for approval this month.

Takorn Tantasith, secretary-general of the NBTC, said the commission is pushing the scheme after reviewing the concept details, which fall in line with the government's current push to upgrade key infrastructure technology.

"The latest details of the project target the efficient handling of all emergency calls and critical cases to prevent loss of life or property," he said.

Mr Takorn said the Royal Thai Police would be the major agency overseeing the project, including sourcing technology suppliers via an auction process, under the supervision of the government.

The NBTC will advise on the project with regard to the technical details.

The smart 191 call system is expected to be connected to other emergency call centres operated by other agencies, such as the 1669 number used by the Thai Health Promotion Foundation.

For medical emergencies, people can call the new 191 number and it will automatically connect to the 1669 operators and the system will highlight the caller's location, he said.

"The 191 number will not only be used for crime or security issues, but all emergencies that require assistance from state agencies," Mr Takorn said. At present, there are some 30 emergency numbers operated by several government agencies and private organisations.

"If the smart number system is implemented, it will help people in need and reduce the burden on call centre staff who frequently have to deal with requests for the numbers of other state agency call centres," said Mr Takorn.

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Posted by Veronica Silva Cusi, news correspondent
Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com