Annex I, accessibility requirements for products and services
Annex I Section V: Answering 112 calls
A 112 emergency communication must be answered using the same communication means it arrived in, synchronised voice and text, or total conversation where video is used.
- Citation
- Annex I, Section V, CELEX 32019L0882 (Directive)
- Binds
- The most appropriate public safety answering point, and the systems that support it.
- In the instrument
- Annex I, accessibility requirements for products and services
- Applies from
- 28 June 2025 for products placed and services provided from that date (Article 31(2)). The Article 4(8) 112 duty may be deferred to 28 June 2027 where a member state uses Article 31(3).
- Source
- EUR-Lex, CELEX 32019L0882
What it requires
Section V applies to the answering of communications to the single European emergency number 112 by the most appropriate public safety answering point. The goal is again foreseeable use by persons with disabilities, achieved through functions, practices, policies, procedures and operational changes.
The operative rule is a matching rule. The emergency communication must be answered in whatever way fits the national emergency system best, using the same communication means as it was received. That means voice and text (real time text included) arriving together, and, when video is used, all three together as total conversation.
The duty is tied to Article 4(8), which is the only obligation a member state may defer to 28 June 2027 under Article 31(3). A service provider that handles emergency communications, or supplies the systems for them, should treat the 2027 date as a possible national deadline rather than a general one.
In practice
The technical test is a call-flow test, not a features list. Place a voice call, a real time text call and a video call, and check that each arrives at the answering point with the same means, synchronised and legible to the operator. Record the date, the network and the result. Repeat after any system change.
What to do
- Confirm whether the organisation answers 112 communications or supplies the answering system.
- Test that voice, real time text and video arrive synchronised.
- Record the national deadline chosen under Article 31(3).
- Keep the practice and training record, not only the technology.
Evidence to keep
- The national measure and its chosen application date.
- A call-flow test for voice, real time text and total conversation.
- The operator training and procedure documents.
- The system supplier's conformity evidence.
Dates
- 2025-06-28Default application date for Article 4(8). (Article 31(2))
- 2027-06-28Latest date where the member state uses the Article 31(3) derogation. (Article 31(3))
Cross-references
Where teams get this wrong
This is the only place the 2027 date comes from. A business that is not involved in answering 112 should not use 2027 as its deadline, and a PSAP cannot assume it has until 2027 unless its member state took the option.
Read from the Official Journal text of Directive (EU) 2019/882, OJ L 151/70, 7 June 2019, Annex I, Section V. Check it yourself: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32019L0882. This page states the provision in our own words and is not legal advice; it does not certify any product or service.