Categories
Close
Menu
Menu
Close
Search
Search

Featured Articles

News

Police warn about 'urban myth' that calling 999 will boost a mobile phone battery

Mark

Share:

Print

Rate article:

No rating
Rate this article:
No rating

Bedfordshire Police have issued a statement warning mobile phone users that calling 999 won’t charge their mobile phones.

Operators answering emergency calls in the force control room have also received calls from people who believed that ringing 999 (the UK emergency services number) and then hanging up would boost their battery life. This ‘urban myth’ has been circulating for several months and led to police in Derbyshire issuing a similar plea last year.

Inspector Claire Ackerman said “Calling 999 for anything other than an emergency or a non-police matter puts additional pressure on resources, ties up an operator and wastes valuable time that could be better spent helping genuine callers possibly in a life-threatening situation. The only way to boost a mobile phone battery is to use a charger. If the 999 system is misused or a call is found to be a hoax then this could constitute a criminal offence.”

The rumour has apparently been traced back to comments on a BlackBerry user forum.

[Bedfordshire Police]

Comments

Collapse Expand Comments (0)
You don't have permission to post comments.

Opinion Articles

Whatever happened to all my tech?

ExclusiveWhatever happened to all my tech?

Mark Bridge writes:

I've been taking a look back at the devices I've written about during the past few years. Some are still faithful companions, others... well, let's just say my faith was misplaced.

ExclusivePredictions for 2016: Network Function Virtualisation, 4G throttling and video calling

Mark Windle, head of marketing at OpenCloud, predicts that this year’s reduction in the number of traditional telecoms operators in some countries will provide an opportunity for other operators to innovate and capture market share in 2016.

He says next year will be a year of rapid change for telecoms… whether it’s MVNO disruption, competitive tariff pricing or simply defence from the ‘dark art’ of hacking.

Kapture review: the audio-recording wristband

ExclusiveKapture review: the audio-recording wristband

Mark Bridge writes:

The most memorable moments in life often go unrecorded. You don't have your camera in your hands. Your finger is still hovering over the 'pause' button on your audio recorder. Or you were simply too busy experiencing whatever was happening. It's all about the one that got away.

That's where Kapture can help.

RSS
12345678910Last

Recent Podcasts

ExclusivePodcast - 20th January 2010

The Fonecast this week covers text message donations, free calls to government helplines, distracted driving, legal action, consolidation... and all the other major mobile industry headlines as well.

ExclusivePodcast - 13th January 2010

This week the team takes a look at product announcements from the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas before diving into the rest of the week's mobile industry news. And Faisal Sheikh from Fone Doctors offers his perspective on the Google Nexus One.

ExclusivePodcast - 6th January 2010

Happy New Year! We're back from our Christmas break with a quick look at the new Google Nexus One, a browse through all the other top mobile industry headlines and a review of 2009.

ExclusivePodcast - 23rd December 2009

Iain Graham, James Rosewell and Mark Bridge take their usual look at the biggest mobile industry news stories - and this week they also predict what's likely to be hitting the headlines in 2010. In addition, they review their 2009 predictions... and discover they did pretty well.

ExclusivePodcast - 16th December 2009

This week's news headlines include the Google Nexus One smartphone, 4G technology, hands-free driving and (once again) the iPhone. There's also an interview with Mark Finlayson from business-to-business dealer Next Communications.

RSS
First7071727375777879Last

Follow thefonecast.com

Archive Calendar

«June 2026»
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
25262728293031
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293012345

Archive