Thursday, June 30, 2011

Coincidence or Not? 911 calls rerouted to Savannah

Reprint from the Atlanta Business Journal, June 15, 2012
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/morning_call/2011/06/100-atl-911-calls-misrouted-to-savannah.html

Shortly after the DeKalb School Board had originally decided to vote on the cell towers for its school campuses back in June 2011, this story appeared on the local news in both Atlanta and Savannah.

A glitch that routed approximately 100 Atlanta 911 calls to Savannah, Ga., rather than to Atlanta emergency officials has been corrected, AT&T officials told the Savannah Morning News. The calls were sent to the wrong place when an AT&T cell tower near Interstate 20 in Atlanta was coded with a Savannah address, the newspaper reports.

The problem started in January and more than 70 calls were misdirected before police pinpointed the problem in April, according to the article.

Savannah police alerted AT&T (NYSE: T) and thought the problem was corrected, but on June 5 an Atlanta woman calling Atlanta police to report a window was smashed at a duplex she owns was routed to Savannah twice. After what the Savannah newspaper said was a “confusing exchange,” the operator had to give the woman a direct number for Atlanta police so she could dial the number herself rather than relying on 911.

The problem continued for a few more days, police said. AT&T officials say they corrected the problem last week, the newspaper reports.

Now that really makes you want to run out and ditch your landline, doesn't it?

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