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Help is Just Three Digits Away
An explanation and discussion of how the FCC's N11 phone code assignments may improve referral systems for nonprofits and government agencies in the near future.

"Dial 911 in case of emergency."
Many children learn the 911 code – and what it represents – before they even master their own telephone number. This is the genius of the N11 codes created and administered by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to facilitate rapid and easy access nationwide to services deemed critical to the public interest. These codes – of which 911 is the best known and most utilized – are simple to remember and execute. For this reason, the assignment of the several possible N11 codes has provoked great interest and invited a bit of controversy.

Because the codes are in short supply, the FCC has committed to reviewing the current assignments in 2005, with the option of reassigning codes whose use is not widespread.

What are N11 codes?
N11 codes allow callers to dial only three digits in order to connect to a location in the phone network that otherwise would be accessible only via a seven or ten-digit telephone number. The network must be pre-programmed to translate the three-digit code into the appropriate seven or ten-digit telephone number and route the call accordingly.

The number of three-digit sequences is limited: the first digit can be any number other than 1 or 0, while the last two digits are both one. The codes "011" and "111" are unavailable because "0" and "1" are used for switching and routing purposes. With only eight possible variations, the N11 code is among the scarcest of numbering resources.

N11 Code Assignments
The existing N11 code assignments are:
    211: Community information and referral services
    311: Non-emergency police and other government services (assigned nationwide)
    411: Unassigned, but used virtually nationwide by carriers for directory assistance
    511: Traffic and transportation information
    611: Unassigned, but used broadly by carriers for repair service
    711: Access to Telecom Relay Services (assigned nationwide)
    811: Unassigned, but used by local exchange carriers (LECs) for business office use
    911: Unassigned, but used nationwide for emergency services

In the Washington, DC - New York City corridor alone, there were eleven different telephone numbers through which to obtain traffic and transit status.

Making the Assignments
In 1997, the FCC released the N11 First Report and Order and FNPRM in which it assigned 311 on a nationwide basis for non-emergency police services. This designation was made in order to reduce congestion on the 911 dialing code for emergency services and to ensure the 911 circuits would not be overburdened with non-emergency calls. In this same report, the FCC also granted the request for an N11 code to reach Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) – a system assisting the speech or hearing impaired with making phone calls – and assigned 711 nationwide for this purpose.

Last year, the FCC granted the U. S. Department of Transportation's petition for assignment of a nationwide N11 code to be used by state and local governments to deliver travel-related information to the public, including the status of roadway construction, accident locations, and alternate traffic routes. These services had traditionally been provided by government agencies across the country often with each municipality and transportation agency having its own separate telephone number.

The FCC reasoned this was an unreasonable burden for the public and designated 511 as the code for this public service. This determination came in light of a finding that during a three-month period in 1997, when Kentucky residents dialed 211 to reach the traveler information service and Ohio residents dialed 333-3333 to reach the same traveler information, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet reported that 72 percent more calls were made to the abbreviated dialing code than to Ohio's 333-3333.

Controversy over implementation
But these changes also engendered some concern among wireless carriers who argued that with the FCC's ruling to leave 511 implementation to federal, state and local transportation agencies, mass confusion would result. Wireless carriers could potentially have to interface with 50 states, accounting for more than 3,000 counties and over 18,000 municipalities. To facilitate the transition, DOT has offered some transportation agencies grants of up to $50,000 to convert their existing travel information numbers to 511 in order to streamline the process.

What N11 Codes May Mean for NonProfits
In May 1998, the Alliance of Information and Referral Systems filed a petition for nationwide assignment of an N11 to access community information and referral services that would include housing assistance, utilities maintenance, food assistance, counseling, hospice services and services for the aging, substance abuse programs, and physical/sexual abuse services. In response, the FCC designated 211 as the dialing code to connect with these services.

The 211 code is reserved to directly access organizations providing these services that are not currently available through 911 or 311. Currently, the 211 code is in use in Connecticut and a 13-county area in Atlanta, Georgia, and according to a review of these systems conducted in Fall 2000, the assistance seeking calls in these areas have increased 40 percent. Nonprofits may look to 211 as a system for referring their services to families in need. Additionally, should the 211 and 311 assignments go into wide implementation, the opportunity for greater collaboration arises and government and agency referrals may be effectively streamlined to benefit both service providers and the public.

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