1990s
- Rationalisation of ambulance services, with 15 regions reduced to 9.
- Rationalisation of Ambulance Communication Centres by St John and other ambulance service providers including hospitals – 15 Ambulance Communication Centres reduced to 9.
1991
- New Zealanders own around 65,000 cellphones. *555 is set up so motorists can report road-related incidents to the Traffic Safety Service, which is not linked to 111.
- European Union establishes 112 as the universal emergency number for all its member states.
1992
The Traffic Safety Service merges with New Zealand Police. *555 is retained as a way for the public to report non-urgent traffic incidents.
1996
- Police and Fire set up Communications Centres in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Both services use the same Communications and Resource Deployment technology and office space, but each takes and dispatches its own 111 calls.
- The Police Communications Centres also handle *555 calls.
1997
95.7% of all New Zealand households have a telephone, the same as Australia and higher than the US.
