For many years, New York Telephone (now a unit of Verizon) used 211 as an automated credit request number for disconnected or misdialed calls.
When the states in the US and provinces in Canada were assigned area codes in 1947 by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), direct distance dialing (DDD) using the area code and the local number was introduced starting in 1951, eventually eliminating the use of the prefix.
[2] On July 20, 2000, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved 211 for nationwide use as a short number in the United States along with 5-1-1 for transportation.
In Texas, particularly in the Coastal Bend area, 211 is also the number to call for elderly and disabled people needing evacuation assistance in the event of a pending disaster such as a hurricane.
[4] In 2017, the 211 network in the U.S. answered close to 15 million requests for assistance through phone, text, and web chat.
Many are open 24/7 to refer callers to organizations that provide services in such areas as: Where available, 211 is operated by a private non-profit community-service organization, local government or local United Ways, which are part of the broader United Way Worldwide network.
Many 211 centers are exploring Memorandums of Understanding with state and federal governments to facilitate the efficient handling of future disasters.
Nova Scotia – 211 Nova Scotia New Brunswick – 211 New Brunswick Quebec – 211 Grand Montréal and 211 Québec régions Ontario – 211 Ontario Saskatchewan – United Way 211 Alberta – 211 Alberta British Columbia – bc211 The Windsor Star has reported on March 20, 2003, that Windsor, Ontario, intended to have a 211 service up by 2009, as the Provincial Government allocated $311,000 to start it up, with much of the money being donated by the United Way of Canada, but had a set time limit on how long those funds would be available.
In the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, for instance, when 211 was dialed, it caused a busy signal to occur and the dialer's telephone line would "go dead" for several minutes afterward.
INFOLINE of Los Angeles, an information and referral services agency serving the greater Los Angeles area, developed a national taxonomy of human services that provides a standard language for information and referral providers nationally.
In the United States, each implementation is monitored by the national accrediting entity Alliance of Information & Referral Systems (AIRS) and its local statewide affiliate.
In Canada, the deployment of 211 service is subject to InformCanada accreditation and Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approval.