An odd side effect of that was that in New Zealand, where phone dials are arranged 9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-0 instead of 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-0, the emergency number was indeed 111, with nine pulses for the 1 digit. British-made exchange equipment was extensively used there, so no modification was needed to make 111 the emergency number.
The reverse dial was a result of the design of early Rotary exchanges built in Antwerp around 1921. Similar Rotary exchanges were installed in Oslo as well in 1914, and Oslo also used the reverse dial (but nowhere else in Norway).