Setting/Adding emergency numbers

asked 2019-07-22 01:01:08 +0300

Keeper-of-the-Keys
5049 ●77 ●101 ●104

updated 2019-07-24 14:18:29 +0300

Though the GSM standard specifies 112 and the Americas use 911 as emergency numbers there are actually a myriad of different emergency numbers in different countries.

I don't know if the SIM card "tells" the phone about said numbers, I do know that the phone is supposed to add an emergency flag when it tries to call such numbers (learnt that from the recent dissection of major 112 failure in The Netherlands). At this point the lockscreen refuses to dial numbers that are not 112 or 911 as emergency calls which may mean that these calls are also dialed without an "emergency" flag if this is indeed the case this endangers users since there is a major difference between calls with an "emergency" flag set and those without - capacity on any network in range must be freed to put the call through whereas a "non-emergency" call is routed only through the home network and only if capacity is available.

I realize that this function may be tough to implement since users should not be able to add said flag to any number they want but only to emergency numbers, but these numbers also make up a finite list so it should be doable somehow.

This is not a duplicate of the request to add ICE numbers since the emergency bit need not be set for those numbers.

Edit -- I understand this subject isn't so "sexy" and hasn't gotten votes so far however the difference between the phone dialing with or without the emergency flag can become a life or death issue to SFOS users and some attention from a Jolla employee is very important in this case

Edit2 -- I just tested my phone without a SIM card and indeed only 112 and 911 work as emergency numbers. A potential way of fixing this is having a list of alternative emergency numbers and allowing the person to set in which country they are. Or when "non" emergency calls are being blocked it should at the very least suggest that 112/911 are available (and hope that the country you are in at leasts forwards those numbers to the police). I repeat the current situation endangers the lives of SFOS users.

@spiiroin @jovirkku @veskuh @Keto @lbt @James @sledges @jahonen @Jare @jiit

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"users should not be able to add said flag to any number they want". Why? I think that your numbers of choice as emergency contacts, like on mainstream operating systems, could be a great feature.

zv0r ( 2019-07-22 05:44:56 +0300 )edit

@zv0r because then I will just add the emergency flag to all my numbers at times when I am in places where the network lacks capacity and my calls will be routed over any antenna and cause other peoples' calls to be dropped and maybe I won't even get charged for them (until the providers figure it out at which point they may end up banning my IMEI altogether).

Keeper-of-the-Keys ( 2019-07-22 10:16:50 +0300 )edit

The Possibility of adding emergency Contacts from the People app to the lockscreen should also be considered.

Raymaen ( 2019-07-23 18:09:49 +0300 )edit

My understanding is that all phones must be able to dial emergency numbers without a SIM, and I've read that 'most phones' accept more than just 112 and 911. Are you saying that Jolla or SFOS phones only accept 112 or 911?

I don'y want to test this with 999 on my Jolla C.

DaveRo ( 2019-07-23 20:16:14 +0300 )edit

@DaveRo that is indeed what I am saying, since I am a member of local emergency services and I have to call dispatch regularly I do have the "luxury" of being able to test this with our local numbers.

As said I don't know whether or not the flag is set, but I can test that later by trying to dial from my old Jolla 1 without a SIM and seeing if it succeeds.

@Raymaen and @zv0r the emergency contacts issue is a separate issue mentioned here: https://together.jolla.com/question/9671/feature-request-lock-code-option-with-ice-function/https://together.jolla.com/question/19535/what-about-ice-numbers/

Keeper-of-the-Keys ( 2019-07-23 21:02:57 +0300 )edit

answered 2019-10-03 01:25:49 +0300

sledges

5298 ●65 ●85 ●83

updated 2019-10-03 01:29:20 +0300

@Keeper-of-the-Keys, here is a breakdown of what happens when emergency numbers are called:

No SIM inserted or SIM requests a PIN yet not entered:
- Modem firmware will allow calling only a fixed set of emergency numbers, conforming to the 3GPP TS22.101 specification
- If a country (such as the UK) you are making such call from does not allow unidentifiable devices (i.e. without a SIM) to register on their network(s), your emergency call attempt will fail
SIM inserted (and correct PIN entered if requested):
- Sailfish OS (and any other mobile OS) will read the list of emergency numbers from the operator (through the SIM card), and complement them with 112 and 911 if they are not already there.
- To see the list of allowed emergency numbers you can, execute the following in a Sailfish OS shell (be patient while the data structure gets populated):
```
devel-su -p pkcon install ofono-tests
/usr/lib/ofono/test/list-modems lists | grep Emergency
```
- Calling such number will set the emergency flag just like during any other allowed and valid emergency call in the cases above

There is no possibility to add custom emergency numbers that are not part of the specification or not provided by the operator. Even if there was on an OS level, they would eventually be rejected by the modem's firmware.

If what you are asking is whether we could implement a list of custom/additional emergency numbers (only possible when SIM is inserted), this would be a feature request very similar to ICE numbers that already exists on TJC, with only difference being that these numbers would be short and country-specific (country I believe can be read off from the SIM). They would still get called without the "emergency flag" set, because modem firmware wouldn't allow that.

Comments

Thanks for checking that!

It seems my provider has not set emergency numbers in their SIM, I will have conversation with them about that tomorrow and also be contacting the ministry of communication on the subject.

That being said if a SIM is present numbers flagged by the SIM as emergency numbers should be treated by the phone as such (allowing dialing them without entering a PIN).

I'm also still left wondering if any provisions exist for these non standard numbers for tourists, ie. if I come on vacation to the UK and don't get a local SIM will me dialing 999 be treated as an emergency call or will it fail because as far as the phone and SIM are concerned that is not an emergency number. Where I live they basically just forward 112 and 911 (which are the numbers in the spec mentioned above if I'm not mistaken) to the police.

Keeper-of-the-Keys ( 2019-10-03 03:43:37 +0300 )edit

@Keeper-of-the-Keys: for debugging purposes, please provide an output of getprop | grep ril.ecc, thank you.

sledges ( 2019-11-21 12:38:14 +0300 )edit

Setting/Adding emergency numbers

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