The contract for upgrading the emergency number was signed today, Wednesday, at a special event 112project amounting to 17.5 million euros, which is implemented within the framework of the AEGIS program.

This is the most modern Next Generation Emergency Call Management System (112 – Next Generation Emergency Call Management System), which will provide upgraded services (e.g. accurate geolocation system, video call, silent button, accessibility services for the disabled, etc.), classifying Greece as a country with a high category of citizen security.

“Five years ago, with the personal intervention of the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, it was activated hardware and the 112 software, technology 2014, which for reasons beyond the scope of this paper, had never been activated” said the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Vassilis Kikilias, in his speech.

As he pointed out, this is a very important upgrade of the valuable tool 112 – the first upgrade since 2014 – with functions and capabilities compatible with the modern technologies of the new era.

With this action it is upgraded:

  • The possibility of multi-channel communication with all citizens who are in emergency situations
  • The cooperation of Unit 5 of the Operations Center (E.S.K.E.D.I.K.) with the Agencies for Dealing with Emergency Situations throughout the territory
  • The communication environment, which will also be adapted to the needs of the disabled.

The software will support among others:

  • Open/Standard communication protocols and full two-way interface with existing and future emergency response systems in accordance with current best practices.
  • Creation of new systems of direct connection with the other agencies (Hellenic Police, EKAV, Coast Guard) for the coordinated management of incidents.

Indicatively, 112 Next Generation will support services geolocation according to the specifications of major manufacturers of mobile telephony operating systems, functionalities through mobile terminals (smart mobile phones and tablets), communication in cases where there is no mobile network coverage, but only a wireless network, silent incident reporting (Silent button) to emergency situations (eg hostage), protection instructions even when the user is located off the grid.

The following are statements by the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Vassilis Kikilia, the Managing Director of the Information Society (contracting authority of the project), Stavros Asthenidis, the ICT Director of OTE Group, Lykourgos Antonopoulos, the Chief of the Fire Brigade Theodoros Vaya and the Representative of 112, Antihyopyragou Kazuka Vassilis.

Vassilis Kikilias stated the following in detail:

“Five years ago, with the personal intervention of the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the hardware and software of 112, technology 2014, was activated, which for reasons that are not here to be analyzed, had never been activated. An emergency tool, a European tool, was integrated into the quiver of Civil Protection, provided early warning to our fellow citizens, protected and saved human lives. I am happy that within a calendar year and within the framework of AEGIS we are implementing the upgrade of this tool, in a new era that will be in the cloud, will provide services for the disabled as well, will have a silent button in case of emergency or hostage situation, will be interoperable and thus will connect the Fire Brigade and Civil Protection with the Police, the Coast Guard and the Armed Forces. The upgraded 112 will have additional capabilities for compatibility with new technology and will enable citizen-to-Service and Service-to-Service interactivity – planning precisely through closed sources and open sources to respond to an emergency. We are very pleased that the AEGIS program continues and is implemented at this pace and I would like to thank the Information Society for the cooperation because as you can see one project is delivered after another”.

In turn, Stavros Asthenidis pointed out that:

“I would like to say a big thank you to the Minister for the trust he shows us in the implementation of the projects. We at the Information Society are very happy to deliver yet another contract for implementation, which is of enormous importance for the protection of the citizen. I think it goes without saying that we will do everything so that the project is implemented on time, with quality so that it can be delivered for use by the Fire Brigade and Civil Protection and put 112 into a new technological era, which with all the specifications which have been set, it will be open to any new technology, so that it can be integrated and be even more effective for the protection of the citizen”.

And Lykourgos Antonopoulos said that:

“We are happy that the OTE Group, through the upgrade of 112, contributes significantly to the digitization of the most critical services of Civil Protection. This project strengthens the coordination of all involved agencies, through the adoption and exploitation of next generation technologies. Thanks to our size and expertise, we will successfully and on schedule complete a project that will help our country lead the way in the safety of citizens and foreign visitors at the European level.”

Accordingly, Theodoros Vagias pointed out: “This upgrade enhances the level of citizens’ communication with 112, but also operationally for us who want the information, as complete as possible with the means that will now be available to make the best mobilization, always for the benefit of our fellow citizens” .

Finally, Vassilis Kazoukas said: “With today’s signing of the relevant contract, our country is laying the foundations for the technological upgrade of the Pan-European emergency number 112 and the strengthening of the existing multi-channel communication that it already provides at the national level. The Pan-European Number 112 is the largest incident reporting center in Greece providing services at a national level. It receives more than 10,000 calls every day and has the ability to communicate in addition to SMS calls. MMS, email as well as from vehicles that have built-in ecall technology. Also within 2025 and before the firewall we will have a first version of the video call subsystem in the context of the partial upgrade and targeted actions aimed at better serving the citizen.
This is therefore a development that is not just a technological leap, but a substantial investment in the safety, efficiency and reliability of the incident reporting mechanism. Through this, the accessibility of people with disabilities will be strengthened, while at the same time it will provide new tools to the agencies responding to emergency calls.”