9 things you didn't know about 'Namma 100', Bengaluru's new citizens' helpline

Namma 100 will soon have posts in nearby districts of Bengaluru. 275 employees work in the control room and the response time is less than 6 seconds. The police control room staff just have 2 minutes to understand the complain and less than 30 seconds to alert the nearest Hoysala staff.

Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah launched the citizens' helpline number 'Namma 100' on June 10 amid much enthusiasm and fanfare. The service is a re-christined and upgraded emergency response system that has been put in place by the Bengaluru Police to enable ease-of-use. In keeping with the words of the chief minister, the project has already started winning accolades among the public and government officials. 

It turned to be boon for the police department too who are much sorted now. Earlier, when there was no one responding to 100, people used to call the Commissioners and the higher-upseven for non-emergency issues. This not only took away precious time of investigating other important cases, but also proved to be a diversion for the police. The response time too was high. City Police Commissioner Praveen Sood said, "The updated police control room is getting around 3,200 calls, most of which are not serious in nature. These are being resolved by the Hoysala staff."

So, before you make that call, know these facts about the helpline number that you weren't aware of previously: 

• The police control room 100 has been integrated with other helpline numbers for elders, women, children and other emergency numbers such as fire and ambulance.
• The new emergency number has 100 phone lines, compared to the 20 lines of Dial 100.
• It is a 30-crore upgraded system that will have 275 employees, trained to address over 8,000 calls per day as compared to the 3,000 calls that the center received every day on Dial 100.
• The police control room staff just have 2 minutes to understand the complain and less than 30 seconds to alert the nearest Hoysala staff.
• It will soon start catering to people who seek help on social media.
• The overall response time of the officials is aimed to be reduced to 2 seconds from the record 6 seconds. It will also ensure quick arrival of police at the spot, latest by 30 seconds.
• The control room uses an advanced GPS system and other assisted real-time technology  with the help of the telecom department to trace the exact location of the caller. 
• After dialling 100, you can dial 1 for Police, 2 for traffic and 3 for enquiry and appointments.
• Similar helpline numbers are likely to be launched in the nearby districts soon.