<P> Reaching a 9 - 1 - 1 dispatcher does not guarantee that emergency services will actually be able to respond to the call, as they are funded and operated separately . One egregious example occurred during a budget crunch in Josephine County, Oregon in 2013, when no county police were on duty and no state police were available to respond to a female caller whose abusive ex-boyfriend was in the process of breaking into her apartment . After the caller spent ten minutes on the phone with the dispatcher, the ex-boyfriend succeeded in breaking in and raping her . </P> <P> In 2013, the next - of - kin of Detroit murder victim Stacey Hightower sued the city for its 90 - minute 9 - 1 - 1 response time . For Robert Poff, a patient experiencing problems breathing, a twenty - minute delay in summoning emergency medical aid proved fatal . Police emergency response times in the bankrupt city in 2013 were typically fifty minutes to one hour, and ambulance response times at least twelve to twenty minutes . </P> <P> In the U.S., some states have rules requiring that every landline telephone that can access the network be able to dial 9 - 1 - 1, regardless of any reason that normal service may have been disconnected (including non-payment). (This only applies to states with a Do Not Disconnect policy in place .) Telephone companies in those states must provide a "soft" or "warm" dial tone service; details can be found at FCC . On wired (land line) phones, this usually is accomplished by a "soft" dial tone, which sounds normal but will allow only emergency calls . Often, an unused and unpublished phone number will be issued to the line so that it will work properly . </P> <P> With regard to mobile phones, the rules require carriers to connect 9 - 1 - 1 calls from any mobile phone, regardless of whether that phone is currently active . Similar rules for inactive telephones apply in Canada . </P>

Where did the emergency number 911 come from