'Hello, 111? You've reached Manila'

TRISH McKENZIE/Southland Times

CROSSED WIRES: Lumsden man Peter Mason is scratching his head after he says a 111 call he made from a cellphone was answered in Manila.

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Dial 111 for Manila.

A Southland man says a 111 call he made in the early hours of Thursday morning reached the Philippine capital — something Telecom denies is possible.

Peter Mason, of Lumsden, dialled 111 about 2.15am after hearing noises behind shops in Diana St, where he has a flat and woodwork shop, about 2.15am.

"I woke up and heard a loud bang from a car or shotgun. I waited for a bit then heard loud scraping noises like someone was dragging something along the ground," Mr Mason said. "I thought I'd better ring 111." Dialling the number from his cellphone, it was answered by a woman with what he described as having a "thick accent" which he found hard to understand.

While the woman knew he had dialled the emergency number, trying to explain where Lumsden was to her was proving difficult so he asked where she was, he said.

"It was definitely Manila. I asked her where she was and she said 'Manila in the Philippines'." The woman then transferred him to the police communications centre in Christchurch, Mr Mason said.

Telecom spokesman Ian Bonnar said the company traced the call and it had "absolutely, categorically" gone to the Christchurch call centre about 2.30am.

He denied a glich could have occurred and despite Telecom operating a call-centre in Manila, all 111 calls were answered within New Zealand. "If you dial 111 there's no way you can be routed through to Manila." That was the case with both landlines and cellphones, he said.

Telecom contracts its 111 services in Christchurch to out-sourcing company Sitel.

Mr Bonnar said all operators in the South Island were Kiwis with the exception of one Scotswoman.

Last year, Telecom moved 40 percent of its broadband helpdesk workload to a call-centre in the Asian city run by global back-office outsourcing firms Teletech and Sitel.

Last month, Telecom reassured call-centre staff that they would be kept in the loop as decisions are made over outsourcing further work to Manila, but it could not guarantee their jobs in New Zealand were safe.

A further 100 call-centre positions will be tested in Manila from September to December — a move that takes its contracted staff in the Philippines to 450. Telecom has more than 1500 call-centre staff.

- © Fairfax NZ News