As a volunteer at a crisis center, Alan Newell (Sidney Poitier) is working the late shift when he hears from a desperate woman named Inga Dyson (Anne Bancroft) who has attempted to overdose on sleeping pills. As Alan tries to keep Inga on the line, Detective Judd Ridley (Edward Asner) and Dr. Joe Coburn (Telly Savalas), a psychiatrist, both become involved in the increasingly tense situation. While they try to determine Inge's location in order to save her, time is quickly running out.