New Delhi, April 7: Soon you will be able to dial a single emergency number "112" to call for police, ambulance or fire fighting services on the lines of "911" in the US.

The new system, which is expected to be in place within six months, will eventually replace the current multiple emergency and communication response systems.

Calls to 112 can be made from both mobile or landline phones even if the outgoing call facility has been debarred or the service is temporarily suspended. One can also send text messages to this toll-free number.

According to Trai's recommendations, a call centre will receive all distress calls and alert departments or agencies concerned depending upon the type of emergency.

The regulator has proposed that the new single emergency response system will allow telecom operators to ascertain the location of a caller and make it available to authorities on a real-time basis. The emergency response centres will function under police commissioners or district magistrates.

"To ensure quick and timely intervention by the responding agencies such as police, fire brigade, hospitals, it is necessary that there is a seamless communications network in place which facilitates persons in distress to access these agencies from anywhere, at anytime, and get a properly co-ordinated and timely response. It is, therefore, vital that access to these multiple agencies ought to be made available through a single and easy-to-remember emergency number to which the distress caller can make an emergency call," said Sudhir Gupta, secretary of Trai.

At present, India uses several emergency numbers such as 100 (police), 101 (fire), 102 (ambulance) and 108 (emergency disaster management).

A number of states have also notified various helpline numbers such as 181 in Delhi for woman in distress, 1094 (Delhi) for missing children and women, 1096 (in Delhi) for crime against women, 1097 (Delhi) to report extortion.

These numbers will continue to be in use till such time that 112 becomes common knowledge. In the interim, all calls made to these multiple emergency numbers will be re-routed to the new single emergency number.

Trai also recommended setting up of a public safety answering point (PSAP). In case of an emergency call, it will be answered by a specially trained despatcher, who will facilitate an appropriate response mechanism.

PSAP will have various systems, including a facility to automatically direct incoming calls to a location tracking system which will plot location information on a map showing nearby landmarks. Responding resources such as PCR vans, fire engines and ambulances should be fitted with GPS to transmit location information to PSAP, said Trai.