What happens if you dial 999 in Hungary?

I have never done this, because the emergency services are busy enough. I just wonder what would happen if you dialled 999. I can imagine it would be routed to the emergency services, but I have never tried it.

If you have a bit of time, go to see the telephone museum on the var in budapest. It is run by a charity, they somehow swindled the magyar posta to give them all the old equipment. I think it is abouut 1,000Ft to get in, but purely optional, I tend to put in a bit more. There is a lovely man with a mop of grey hair (he can't afford a proper mop) who will guide you round and basically runs it as a passion. It is a lovely thing to behold, all the old straugers going cachink cachink cachink as you dial a number.

999 is just for the UK, so I would guess it would do nothing, just as if you dialled 911, which is for America.

But there is the European Emergency number which is 112.

It is not the only emergency number in Hungary.

The national emergency numbers are:

104 - ambulance & emergency medical services
105 - fire-brigade, rescue services, civil protection
107 - police

The area code for Sopron is 99 so you might get some subscriber there (if you added more digits after the 999). 

I had cause to call 112 once  from my mobile and no-one answered even after several minutes.

fluffy2560 wrote:

The area code for Sopron is 99 so you might get some subscriber there (if you added more digits after the 999). 

I had cause to call 112 once  from my mobile and no-one answered even after several minutes.


Take a look at this > https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-mar … 12-hungary

Never heard of 999 for emergency services.
Wonder what would happen if I dialed 666, would Lucifer himself answer?

Not to make light of it, I would guess the auto machine would tell you in Hungarian then English that the number didn't go through.

I know in the US if you dial up 911 on a lark you could find yourself on the wrong side of the law.

Interesting enough, my aunt worked all of her life as a switchboard operator in our hometown in Conn.
She worked every other week on night shift or day shift.
They took all calls for both the local fire dept. and the police.
This was in the late 1940's through the early 70's.
She was the last of her kind as a switchboard operator, she and her co-workers trained all the new so called 911 operators.
She worked harder then they do these days with computers etc. at their fingertips. It was more personal back in the day.
Her one regret which wasn't really her fault was when a Puerto Rican family called about a house fire and they couldn't pronounce the name of their st. to literally save their lives. There were two sts. with similar names and they just couldn't get it right.
The fire truck was going all over town looking for a fire.
One of the residents died in the fire because they arrived too late.
That is scary since I am not sure if I ever need to call if I can make the operator understand my address or not.
Might be better to just bang on one of the neighbors doors and let them make the call.

SimCityAT wrote:
fluffy2560 wrote:

The area code for Sopron is 99 so you might get some subscriber there (if you added more digits after the 999). 

I had cause to call 112 once  from my mobile and no-one answered even after several minutes.


Take a look at this > https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-mar … 12-hungary


Yes, I know about 112 but if you called it as I did (maybe 5 years ago), nothing  happened, ring ring ring and no-one answered.  I presumed they were all in bed.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Never heard of 999 for emergency services.
Wonder what would happen if I dialed 666, would Lucifer himself answer?
...


999 is the British emergency number but 112 will work just as well.  999 is used in some other countries as well, usually those with a British connection. 

The reason it's 999 is because of the old rotary phones.  It's harder to dial the number incorrectly or by accident and it's also easier to find by touch in the dark or in smoke:

http://c7.alamy.com/comp/BW7CA8/old-vintage-retro-gpo-746-british-telecom-rotary-dial-phone-from-the-BW7CA8.jpg

Makes more sense than 911 really.

These days it's quite common to jiggle a phone in your pocket and accidentally call the emergency services.   They get many thousands of calls like this each year.

While we're here, there's another question people from the USA often ask and sometimes complain about is why bank notes in Europe are different sizes?  I know the answer but I'm going to see if anyone else knows - no looking it up in Google or Wikipedia!

Oh, and as for calling Lucifer.....there's no need to call him....as he's standing....right behind you!

I know all that. I still wonder what would happen if you dialled 999.

For that matter, in the UK 999 will get you the coastguard, if you happen to live near a coast.  Hungary doesn't seem to have any. I think Trianon sorted that one out.

"Those that are not afraid of the sea
Are often drowned
Because they will go out on a night
When they shouldn't

But we DO be afraid of the sea
And we only be drowned
Now and again"

Just now I asked my husband to google this question in Hungarian.
It said it used to work but is no longer in service here in HU.
The number would ring a operator at the phone co. and show up as a red light on their panel. You would hear a Brr sound on your end of the line.
Didn't mention much more then that old info.
Better to learn the correct way here or like I mentioned, scream loud for help.
Other info mentioned something about 99 being the area code in Asia...
I may still dial  or punch up, 666 and see who answers...

SimonTrew wrote:

I know all that. I still wonder what would happen if you dialled 999.

For that matter, in the UK 999 will get you the coastguard, if you happen to live near a coast.  Hungary doesn't seem to have any. I think Trianon sorted that one out...


Just call 999 and see what happens. I suspect nothing.

You can call the 112 number if you are out on Balaton and the Hungarian Navy will come and rescue you on a pedalo*.   They are  in a twinning arrangement with the Mongolian Navy.

In our traditional holiday area, down by the lakeside, there's a paramedic/rescue/lifeguard station.  They have a small catamaran with oars so they can row out to the casualty. It also has an electric motor and some batteries.  Never seen it being used. 



* Ok, I was joking if no-one guessed. Actually they are police and they have some speedboats.  They also go up and down quite a lot in a helicopter.

I beieive in the UK 911, 999 and 112 will all do the emergency services, and this is a provision of the Btitish Telecommunications Act 1984. The easiest thing of course would to be to try it, but I don't want to bother the emergency services with essentially a false call.

999 was a particluarlly stupid number to choose because it takes so long to dial on a rotary phone. It has benefits that people rarely dial it by mistake. 112 and so on is too easy to dial by mistake..but because nobody has rotary phones any more that is pretty much a therotical argument.

Is a Hungary Navy  knife a bit like a Swiss Navy knife? i.e has no blades whatsoever.

"They also go up and down a lot in a helicopter".

(* I got the joke, too. It is funnier without lots of LOL and smilies etc, I tend to think, but these days one must signposted these things I suppose. Except thee and me.)

One of the key features of helicopters and aircraft generally, they go both up and down. If they only go up, you have a faulty helicopter.Getting fixed-wing planes down  is usually the hard bit too, they are just desperately trying to go up, and you are fighting to get it down.

I used to do battle simlation software for a well-known defence company. Helicopters were easy cos essentially they just stay where you put them. (You kinda ignore gravity in all of this when your similating them). Tanks were a bugger because we just kinda "flew" them with the aircraft guidance equations. But tanks go very slowly and have a tendency to stick into the ground, which is not what the equations were expecting. When you asked a tank to bank or pitch or roll, because it kinda couldn,'t, infinity got int the way and it would spin up into the air in a lovely pirouette. Tanks don't usually do that.

We added some gravity and it seemed to fix the problem.

SimonTrew wrote:

"They also go up and down a lot in a helicopter".

(* I got the joke, too. It is funnier without lots of LOL and smilies etc, I tend to think, but these days one must signposted these things I suppose. Except thee and me.)

One of the key features of helicopters and aircraft generally, they go both up and down. If they only go up, you have a faulty helicopter.Getting fixed-wing planes down  is usually the hard bit too, they are just desperately trying to go up, and you are fighting to get it down. ...
......
We added some gravity and it seemed to fix the problem.


Usually you use the engine to control your up and down in a plane - more power up and less power down.  Controlled descent and speed by adding drag (not the RuPaul variety, although it would add some carnival to events).

Regarding gravity, there's something wrong with it hereabouts. And it's a conspiracy.

Whenever I get the bathroom scales out to check how heavy I am it seems that gravity is stronger here in my house over the scales than my mind perceives it should be.  It's the same sort of effect I see with clothing.  My clothing seems to have shrunk over the winter months of idleness. 

Now where did I leave my bike......

Well using oars in a rowboat was done here in the past.
In 1978 we were some of the only people swimming in Heves.
It was late Sept. and my in-laws took us everywhere in Hungary.
It wasn't as "fancy" there as it is now, just some dressing cabins on the side of the lake and the main Hotel/therapy part was just different, more like part of a hospital PT center.
Anyways, my husband and I were swimming in the fog in the middle of Heves, a old wooden row boat with a white cross painted on the side appeared out of the fog.
The life guard was rowing and all alone. He must of been not more then a day over 75 and wearing a dress suit.
I didn't notice much in the way of life lines etc. on his boat.
He just cautioned us to be careful because the water was something like 80 ft. deep where we were swimming.
OK, I swam to shore, too scary to even think about.
On that same holiday we had a "date night" while my MIL babysat for us.
We went all over the city, dinner, drinks walking until I had to have my husband carry me to a cab.
( Never wear high heels as a tourist)
( Those were the days, high heels and my husband being able to carry me for blocks...)
Anyways we wanted to top off the night with a boat ride on the Danube River.
No tourist boats operating then at that time of year, dark and slightly chilly outside.
We ran into 2 fishermen with a outboard motor fishing boat.
Husband made a deal to give them some dollars and we were off on the ride of our live's.
Up and down the Danube for a good hour, no life jackets, no CB radio, no flares , nothing....
Almost as crazy as going in a open boat in Belize under the same conditions...
Yes, sometimes I think I've had my 9 lives.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Well using oars in a rowboat was done here in the past.
.....
( Those were the days, high heels and my husband being able to carry me for blocks...)
Anyways we wanted to top off the night with a boat ride on the Danube River.
No tourist boats operating then at that time of year, dark and slightly chilly outside.
We ran into 2 fishermen with a outboard motor fishing boat.
Husband made a deal to give them some dollars and we were off on the ride of our live's.
Up and down the Danube for a good hour, no life jackets, no CB radio, no flares , nothing....
Almost as crazy as going in a open boat in Belize under the same conditions...
Yes, sometimes I think I've had my 9 lives.


Believe me, it's nothing to crossing a stinky river in Bangladesh as I did a year or so ago. If you fall in there, you'll probably catch Hepatitis and a whole load of parasites.  Basically an open sewer but I still saw people fishing in it.

In the early 70's my sister and her husband  drove from the UK with another couple all through the middle east, even crossed through Hungary on their adventures.
6 months of travel on the old'Hippie Route".
In India she picked up a nice case of dysentery.
They tried to eat and drink right but something went wrong for her.
Back then she was a healthy 120lbs. much shorter then her 2 other sisters but strong as a ox, normally. She lost over 30 lbs. and was almost a goner for awhile.
She mentioned how they throw the remains/ashes of bodies into the rivers over there...
No way can you go in to cool off from the heat without picking up bits of grandma or uncle Joe...
Yuck, my mind can't even think of it.
My 3rd cousin who I met on a fam reunion in Poland 4 years ago was married to a man from India, met him when she was 17 and in college.
He must of come from a "upper class" family because she never mentions anything so nasty. Her daughter just married a man she met in the UK at the London School of Economics , he is also from India.
They now live in the US and are expecting their first baby very soon.
It's crazy how many cultures have mixed in my family, a regular UN family.
My cousin is a tiny little blue eyed blonde , just strange how certain people just know who is their match without anyone telling them who or what to marry.Almost 50 years together before her husband passed away.
She cooks and acts more like a person from India then a preppy girl from Conn.
Wow, I have gone off track here...
This cousin was a recovery room nurse at John's Hopkins Hospital for ever.
Just retired, anytime something goes wrong I let her know and get advice from her before seeing a doctor here. I think nurses know more then most doctors do.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

.....
Back then she was a healthy 120lbs. much shorter then her 2 other sisters but strong as a ox, normally. She lost over 30 lbs. and was almost a goner for awhile.
She mentioned how they throw the remains/ashes of bodies into the rivers over there...
No way can you go in to cool off from the heat without picking up bits of grandma or uncle Joe...
.....


I once went down the Nile (on a boat) and there was all sorts of things floating in there - dead cows, goats, bits of wood, leaves, plastic  and human waste.  Basically it was the trash conveyor for the folks further upstream.  Notwithstanding the crocs, you wouldn't want to swim in there either.   

It probably doesn't matter if they throw the ashes in the Ganges.  It's just a few kg of minerals and a maybe a bit of water.

fluffy2560 wrote:

why bank notes in Europe are different sizes?


Larger notes have larger values.

This is so rich people can say "Mine is bigger than yours.  :P"

klsallee wrote:
fluffy2560 wrote:

why bank notes in Europe are different sizes?


Larger notes have larger values.

This is so rich people can say "Mine is bigger than yours.  :P"


Nice idea but no - try again!

Anyway, they also say size doesn't matter....and it's how you use it.

But people say a lot of things....

fluffy2560 wrote:
klsallee wrote:
fluffy2560 wrote:

why bank notes in Europe are different sizes?


Larger notes have larger values.

This is so rich people can say "Mine is bigger than yours.  :P"


Nice idea but no - try again!


Well.... I was half right. The part about larger notes having larger values is correct. The real (but far more boring) reason "why" is pretty clear -- to make it easier to identify denomination of the bills. Some say this is the for the blind, but the tactile elements are easier to use for the blind, and sizes (and colors) also help the non-blind (and I doubt most people even know there are tactile element identifying bill amounts). Such as one finds now on the newest Forint bills. Touch the lower left corner of the latest, newest paper money and you will feel raised lines. 1 line for 500 bill, 2 lines for 1,000 bill, 3 lines for 2,000 bill, etc.

klsallee wrote:
fluffy2560 wrote:
klsallee wrote:


Larger notes have larger values.

This is so rich people can say "Mine is bigger than yours.  :P"


Nice idea but no - try again!


Well.... I was half right. The part about larger notes having larger values is correct. The real (but far more boring) reason "why" is pretty clear -- to make it easier to identify denomination of the bills. Some say this is the for the blind, but the tactile elements are easier to use for the blind, and sizes (and colors) also help the non-blind (and I doubt most people even know there are tactile element identifying bill amounts). Such as one finds now on the newest Forint bills. Touch the lower left corner of the latest, newest paper money and you will feel raised lines. 1 line for 500 bill, 2 lines for 1,000 bill, 3 lines for 2,000 bill, etc.


Yay!

You're the winner!     And the only entrant!

Here's your trophy:  :one:top:

Now the other side of the question:   Why are US bills all the same size?!!!

fluffy2560 wrote:

You're the winner!

Here's your trophy:  :one:top:


So gracious. And I am so proud. I will give my 2 hours acceptance speech tonight at 7:00 PM in case anyone wants to attend. :)


fluffy2560 wrote:

And the only entrant!


Yes, well, it's lonely at the top.  :| (Or maybe a top loony....  :/ )

fluffy2560 wrote:

Why are US bills all the same size?!!!


I have no idea..... Wild guess: Cheaper to make them all the same size? After all the USA does not have all that EU cohesive funding to spend..... :(

klsallee wrote:
fluffy2560 wrote:

Why are US bills all the same size?!!!


I have no idea..... Wild guess: Cheaper to make them all the same size? After all the USA does not have all that EU cohesive funding to spend..... :(


My US colleagues always used to make a thing out of the differing notes in Europe being inconvenient but I always saw it as being rather a nice inclusive idea for the visually impaired. 

As we know, it's a special day for HU citizens today.   If OV  keeps going in the direction he is going, he won't have  that EU money (3 billion EUR p.a.) either.   Euronews and The Economist have some quite interesting articles about OV at the moment.