Everybody knows what the telephone number 911 leads to ─ help in life- threatening situations.

But almost no one yet knows about 211. Though familiar with human services, I had not heard of this number until a few weeks ago. But now I have discovered that these three digits are already making a crucial difference in the lives of many people and stand ready to help many more.

211 serves people confronted with all sorts of problems. However, those whose lives are in immediate jeopardy and others assisting them should continue to call 911.

On a recent rainy and windy April day, I visited 211 headquarters, housed at 95 Berkeley Street in Boston in the offices of the Medical Foundation, the agency that runs this program. There I met with Gary Lever, the director, who explained to me how 211 operates and listed several examples of needs that can be met by this new information and referral service.

Those who have lost power in their homes could call 211. Or people without heating oil. Others may need day care for their children or elder family members. Or be without food or money for rent. Perhaps a water heater has broken, or parents may need counsel for their teenage son. If a woman has run out of diapers for her baby, 211 can help.

Established in Massachusetts six months ago, 211 serves people throughout the  entire state. As of now, the number can be called from 8 to 8, Monday through Friday. However, the agency hopes, by the end of the year, to make the number active 24/7.

Massachusetts does not have a monopoly on 211: 41 states now use the same number, though only about half offer state-wide coverage. Presumably the whole country will be covered in the foreseeable future.

Funding for the Massachusetts program comes from the Council of Massachusetts United Ways and the Massachusetts Association of Information & Referral Specialists.

While visiting the office, I saw the call-receiving professionals at work. While talking with callers, they sit before computer screens that give them access to information about some 8,800 service agencies.

These information and referral specialists, most of them women, are highly trained and sympathetic to the callers. They do not ask the names or identity of callers but preserve their privacy.

Currently some six or seven hundred people call 211 each week. That may not seem like many but for an agency that has been only six months running, it suggests a lot of work. As of now, callers can expect to get connected quickly; the agency’s goal is to answer 80 percent of the calls within 90 seconds.

Most conversations last from five to seven minutes, but some can last 10 or 15. More calls come early in the morning and at the beginning of the week than at other times.

The woman I talked to, Robin Fox, is a social worker with wide experience who obviously loves her work. “What’s so great about this service is that there are many people out there who really need help,” she says. “I think it’s a great idea that people have one place where they can call.”

Having been with 211 from the beginning, she sees progress: “At this point, we’re able to go a little bit deeper, now that we understand the system a little bit better.”

The elder service network, with which I am most familiar─notably the Councils on Aging and the ASAPS (formerly known as home care agencies), have their own numbers for information and referral. And the Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs has the 1 800 AGE-INFO (243-4636) number that can be called free of charge from anywhere.

These resources do not conflict with 211. The people there are familiar with these and other networks and work hand in hand with them. 211 also receives calls from professionals at these and other agencies who may themselves need information about other human service resources.

Most of us have no better than foggy ideas about how to contact the appropriate agency when we need help. I would be the same way, had I not once worked for the Cambridge Council on Aging. While serving there, I received a crash course on the large array of human services agencies throughout the Commmonwealth. I came away from the experience with admiration for the wealth of such services available in this state.

But sometimes you can feel yourself in need of a Ph.D. to find your way toward help. Each agency has its own rules and procedures, sometimes making it hard for people without special knowledge to navigate the murky waters.

That’s why 211 seems important to me. To have a single number, and to find knowledgeable and sympathetic voices at the other end to help guide you on your way─ impresses me as worth a whole lot to a great many people.

Richard Griffin