Anyone who dials an emergency number wants to receive help quickly. Ingo Klinger knows better than anyone what technical and organizational requirements need to be met for this. He is responsible for emergency calls at Swisscom.
When it comes to emergency calls in Switzerland, there’s no getting around him: Ingo Klinger is “Head of Public Safety / Emergency Calls” at Swisscom and is networked and in regular contact with all emergency centers in Switzerland. He has supported the Swiss Conference of Social Directors (SODK) and Victim Support Switzerland from the very beginning of the project for a standardized victim support telephone number and is in talks with all cantons regarding the introduction and operation.
What is special about three-digit short numbers for emergency services? What requirements do they have to meet?
Ingo Klinger: Anyone who makes an emergency call expects the short numbers for emergency services to be accessible from any telephone line and at any time, that someone will answer the call and that help can be provided immediately. In order to meet these expectations within the scope of technical possibilities, three-digit short numbers for emergency services in particular must be very robust, secure and available at all times and must be routed to the locally responsible emergency call receiving center based on the location of the emergency caller. The correct routing of all telecommunications service providers (TSPs) is complex to implement and must be coordinated with all parties involved.
What exactly happens when an emergency number is dialed?
Today, over 80% of calls to three-digit short numbers are made to emergency services via the mobile network. The three mobile network operators, Salt, Sunrise and Swisscom, ensure that calls to three-digit short numbers for emergency services can be delivered even if their own network is not available. For example, if Salt’s mobile network is not available at a location, the call will be transmitted via the Swisscom or Sunrise mobile network available at that location. This is in contrast to a normal call, which is not transmitted. There are also other services specific to emergency calls, such as emergency call monitoring. In the event of an emergency call center failure, this ensures that emergency calls are delivered to other defined destinations.
The emergency numbers are always national projects that are implemented differently from canton to canton, as is usual in Switzerland. What challenges arise during implementation, especially in the specific case of the number 142?
The biggest challenge is that it is a completely new three-digit short number for an emergency call service. When this number is dialed, the caller wants to be routed to the right emergency call center in the right place. In other words, if I dial 142 in Basel, the expectation is that the victim support service in Basel will answer the emergency call. For this implementation, various tasks in the fixed and mobile networks must be implemented, agreed and coordinated by all telecommunications service providers. This affects all TSPs that offer their customers public telephony, the interconnection, the emergency call platform and other technical aspects in Switzerland. All systems must also be aware that 142 is an emergency number. The 142 must be stored in telephones, communication systems and in the connections of the population. When dialing 142, no call charges may be incurred and no entries may be made on the bill or the proof of connection.
During the ESC in Basel, the operation of the 142 number was tested as a pilot project. You accompanied the operation. What did you learn from this?
First of all, I would like to thank you for the uncomplicated and direct cooperation. At times I had the feeling that we were in start-up mode together. It was important for us as Swisscom to understand how Victim Support works. How do they work? What is important? How long does a call take? What resources are needed and how can we work together to ensure the highest possible technical and organizational availability? Other aspects included 24/7 availability and the uncertainty of how many calls there will be and what we need to be prepared for. We learned a few things. Firstly, that together we managed to successfully implement the ESC. And that we got a better feel for the working methods and requirements of victim support. This gives us the confidence to successfully implement the upcoming project with the launch of the three-digit short code 142.
There will be cantonal rollouts in November 2025 and the national rollout in May 2026. Under what conditions is this even feasible?
The most important thing was to develop a joint process model. This meant clarifying which organization, which canton would like to start when and with which offer. To this end, many discussions were held and so-called call models were created. May 1, 2026, with the introduction of the three-digit short number 142, has been set for every TSP nationwide. As of November 1, 2025, the short number 142 does not yet exist. However, some cantons – including Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft – are already planning to launch a 24/7 service under a different telephone number. This means that a large part of the technical and organizational processes will have to be in place by 1 November 2025. We have succeeded in implementing this preliminary work so that we have the basis for this staggering.
What do you expect from the cantons when introducing the 142 number? What is your wish?
When it comes to the three-digit short numbers for emergency services, I have two expectations. Firstly, as a citizen: when I call 142, I expect to be able to reach someone 24/7 and get help. This means an organizational challenge for everyone in terms of internal processes and resources. From Swisscom’s point of view, we also expect that all TSPs will have implemented the 142 number in good time and that together we will have succeeded in implementing the calls in such a way that they can be used in the best possible way by the advisors and victim support organizations. My wish is that 142 becomes an important part of helping and supporting people.
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At night and at weekends, the number is operated by Dargebotene Hand beider Basel.
The Dargebotene Hand provides basic counseling and, if necessary, refers the victim to the day service for counseling.
Victim Support beider Basel is available 24/7
Tel: +41 61 205 09 10
