BT's newest 999 call centre in Dundee is joining celebrations as the service marks its 75th anniversary.
The emergency line, which today handles 1.9 million calls a year, was launched following the tragic deaths of five women in a fire in London.
More than 1000 calls were made during the first week of the service in 1937, compared with a weekly average today of 597,000 across the UK and 36,230 in Scotland.
BT operators now answer 98% of the 31m UK calls received annually within five seconds.
The anniversary is being celebrated at BT centres in many parts of the UK, including Glasgow, which became the second city in the UK to have a 999 response room in 1938.
Dundee, which has 96 operators and seven managers, has already handled more than 19,600 calls since starting to take them in April.
Brendan Dick, director of BT Scotland, said: "The 999 service is known for its reliability and professionalism. It's not only the world's oldest emergency call service having clocked up 75 years of experience in providing the UK with a communications lifeline in times of need, it's also one of the world's most respected and admired services.
"Many people in Scotland owe their lives to smooth and effective emergency call handling by BT operators, using the latest technologies to ensure that emergency calls are dealt with swiftly and efficiently. When lives are at stake it's vital that no time is lost.
"Our 999 operators are the first port of call for people seeking help and we're very proud of the part they have played in this essential service for the past seven and a half decades. We are particularly pleased that our operators in Dundee are joining their colleagues in Glasgow to be part of the service, it's a real recognition of the high calibre of our people in Dundee."
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