NG MERS 999, which went live on Nov 16, is the new emergency hotline system built to replace the older Malaysian Emergency Response Services, or MERS999, system.
TM, which is jointly operating the new system together with the health and communications ministries, acknowledged that some Malaysians were unable to reach 999, or experienced slower emergency response times, during the early phase of the NG MERS 999 migration.
It said while the previous system averaged around 50,000 calls per day, the new NG MERS 999 platform received close to 70,000 calls daily.
However, only about 5% of these were genuine emergencies, with the remainder consisting of silent and prank calls.
Despite this spike, the number of actual emergency incidents remained constant, averaging about 3,500 dispatches a day, said TM.
“This sudden increase in volume affected system performance,” said TM.
“We have taken immediate measures to stabilise the service, including increasing server capacity and optimising server configurations.
“Additional resources were also deployed at the call centre to manage the high volume of calls.”
TM stressed that the 999 voice service remains fully operational and continues to serve as the primary channel for emergency assistance, with the SaveME999 mobile application acting as a complementary alternative for reaching emergency services.
TM explained that the 17-year-old MERS999 platform had to be upgraded as the system had reached its technical limits and could no longer support the country’s evolving emergency requirements.
NG MERS 999 was introduced to enhance accessibility, strengthen multi-agency coordination, and align Malaysia with modern international emergency standards, said TM.
On Tuesday, TM and the health and communications ministries said recent disruptions were isolated and that the platform was running as normal.
Penang chief minister Chow Kon Yeow yesterday said the system should not have been rolled out without going through the proper tests.
He acknowledged that disruptions to the emergency hotline resulted in “certain risks” to those seeking emergency services, which he said should have been avoided.