GREATER Manchester's fire service has been 'ringing' the changes to connect up with a revolutionary telephone system that saves lives.

The new exchange, which has been installed over the past 18 months, allows all emergency 999 calls to be traced to the address of origin within seconds.

When a caller rings through to the British Telecom emergency exchange the telephone number automatically comes up.

Now, if a shocked fire victim is unable to provide an address, it can be traced within minutes, resulting in the almost instantaneous arrival of an emergency crew on the doorstep. The system could pull the plug on malicious hoax callers who could be faced with an angry fire crew almost as soon as they have put the telephone receiver down.

The benefits of the new system were clearly shown earlier this week when shocked father, Paul Elliot, of Hargreaves Street, Halliwell, was too shaken to give the fire control operator his address.

Despite this, a fire crew arrived within just four minutes.

Divisional Officer, Tony Proctor, said: "The call came in at 10.26pm, and we were there at the address four minutes later, even though it hadn't been provided over the telephone to us.

"This clearly shows how we can trace calls and respond to them. "In this case particular praise must go to the professionalism shown by the fire control operator. Having taken the telephone number down, she managed to keep the line open and spoke to the fire crews when they arrived to make sure everything was okay.

"It showed a great coolness of mind.

"We know the calling line number as soon as we get the call. The BT operator listens in on the line and is then able to look up the address for us.

"The professionalism of the control room operators and the liaison we have with BT is improving all the time.

"Not only does this system save lives, but it also assists us in tracking down malicious callers." "We are currently running a pilot scheme in Greater Manchester along these lines to reduce the number of malicious calls that come in. "It is hoped the exchange will be introduced nationally within the near future."

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