Boredworkers.com

I was randomly jabbing away at the keypad of my Nokia handphone (6610i) the other day. I was initially surprised when the phone’s backlight came on. I looked at the screen again only to find that the keypad lock was still active with no numbers entered. That sparked my curiousity and I wanted to discover what it was that switched on the lights.

After a few more random shots, I discovered that Nokia handphones (or at least my model) allowed certain number combinations to be keyed in while the keypad lock was active. The first combination I discovered was the numbers ‘08′. Pressing any other combination would return the phone to its locked state. It wasn’t until I discovered the second combination that I realised those numbers were actually emergency numbers!

If you didn’t know, the emergency numbers that we normally dial from a landline will not work for a handphone (e.g. 991, 999, 994). Instead, handphone users use a different emergency number, which when dialed will query the telco service provider which will in turn forward the call to the emergency line. We usually know only one emergency number, ‘112′ which is the standard one that manufacturers and telcos will inform their customers about.

I discovered that dialling ‘08‘, ‘112‘, and ‘911‘ will have the same effect. Strangely enough, it takes a while for anyone to answer. That is bad considering that they are supposed to be emergency numbers and the response should be a lot more prompt. If it was a life and death situation, someone might be dead by the time they picked up.

Anyway, it is good to keep these numbers in mind cause you just never know when you’re going to need it. Remember that on Nokia phones, they can be entered without unlocking the keypad first.