dmurray14

I'll try this one, as I have a company that does phone system installations. One of our clients recently had an issue where someone was dialing 911, and they couldn't figure out who it was. The dispatchers ended up calling back the main number and telling them they had been receiving calls fairly often. They were very helpful and provided dates and times of the calls, which we used to check the logs and eventually security camera footage. Turns out it was someone from outside the company that was there every week, using a common room phone trying to dial out with a 9 (and somehow screwing up the double "1" each time).

For this reason, we ALWAYS use 8 as the external number prefix. That also allows us to route the actual "911" calls out without requiring someone to dial "9 911" or "8 911", which visitors or folks not familiar with the phone system may not know.

I would assume they use the MDC or telephone method for calls that might have details they want to remain non-public. It is very easy to grab a police scanner and listen to the radio broadcasts.