KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s new Next Generation Emergency Services 999 (NG999) system has stabilised after last week’s surge in calls, with 95% of incoming calls now answered within eight seconds, meeting the service-level agreement (SLA) set between the government and Telekom Malaysia (TM).
Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching told Parliament that while NG999 officially went live on Nov 15, it immediately experienced an “unexpected and drastic” spike in daily calls, nearly doubling the average traffic recorded on the previous MERS999 platform.
“On the old system, incoming calls averaged 28,000 a day. But on Nov 15, NG999 received 50,000 calls - and the volume remained above 50,000 for several days after that,” she said in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday (Nov 24).
She said numbers peaked at 61,000 calls on Nov 17, with similarly high volumes recorded on Nov 16 (60,000 calls), Nov 18 (55,000), Nov 19 (38,000), Nov 20 (38,000), Nov 21 (49,000), Nov 22 (53,000) and Nov 23 (50,000).
According to Teo, the sudden influx resulted in unanswered calls during the first week of operations, but TM has since added more agents to its call centre.
“Now, 95% of calls are answered within eight seconds, and waiting calls have been reduced by 95%,” she added.
Teo clarified that the NG999 project, approved in 2020 to replace MERS999, is being developed through a public-private partnership with TM under a 12-year concession worth RM1.25bil.
“This amount covers one year of system development and 11 years of operations.
“It is not RM1.25bil for development alone, as some have misunderstood,” she said, adding that the system underwent user acceptance tests this year with multiple agencies, including the police.
Responding to concerns about accessibility for senior citizens and rural communities, Teo stressed that the traditional “999” number remains fully operational nationwide.
“You can still call 999 from anywhere, including rural areas. The number has not changed,” she said.
The ministry also encouraged users with hearing impairments or those unable to make voice calls to use the newly launched SaveMe999 mobile application.
As of Nov 23, the app has been downloaded 247,000 times, with 61,000 registered users.
On concerns raised by Oscar Ling (PH-Sibu) over the app’s requirement for a 12-digit password, Teo agreed the current registration process is “not satisfactory”.
According to her, the ministry had already instructed TM to integrate MyDigital ID for single sign-on.
“The app was developed in 2024, when MyDigital ID was not fully ready. TM is now working with MyDigital ID, and we expect a simpler login method soon,” she said.
Teo said the Communications Ministry continues to request daily performance updates from TM and urged the public to report any unanswered emergency calls.
“We want to ensure every genuine call is attended to. If a call is cut off or unanswered, TM has been instructed to call back to verify whether assistance is needed,” she said.
