PacBell 911 system out in Northern California.

Just heard on KCRA TV (Sacramento 6:30 am 7/14). Don't know if there is any connection to Y2K, but since other 911 outages have been Y2K related, I thought I would post this early report. The TV report said the outage was widespread - over northern California, and that people should call the local fire or police numbers if they have an emergency.

-- Linda (lwmb@psln.com), July 14, 1999

Answers

More (again from KCRA TV 6:58 am) - it wasn't JUST the 911 system. It was the general lines also. The reporter said she had problems getting a line IN or OUT. (and then gave numbers to call if you have problems - duh!). Still no word on the cause.

-- Linda (lwmb@psln.com), July 14, 1999.

Update - 7:12am. KCRA talked with PacBell rep. John Britton. The systems are working again. The outage was from 5:04am - 6:15am. Routine maintenance proceedures that happen daily turned up a HARDWARE problem. He did not seem to be aware that non-911 lines were affected, but the reporters again stated that they had been unable to get calls in or out. Also, he did not seem to be aware that there had been a cell-phone outage as reported by the CHP (a completely different system). He - John Britton - said the problem did NOT extend beyond the Sacramento area, though the KCRA reporters had said it covered much of northern CA. Note - I am in the Sierras and had dialtone during that period (did NOT try 911).

-- Linda (lwmb@psln.com), July 14, 1999.

Thanks.

This is the year of "testing." We hope.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), July 14, 1999.

Interesting news...

In nearly three years of service with PacBell I've had no difficulty with my phone line and staying connected. However, over the last three days, I've been getting kicked off over and over again.

It's strange though, considering I'm in Southern California. Maybe it's just the weather.

Mike ==================================================================

-- Michael Taylor (mtdesign3@aol.com), July 14, 1999.

Of course it's just the weather. Little one-hour pre-storms. Start gettin ya acclimatized to the upcoming 3-day storm. Just buy an umbrella and you'll be fine.

-- trollala (weather@stormy.whatever), July 14, 1999.

I would hesitate to conjecture on any episodes of repeated 911 or access problems on the wireline network. But it is quite easy for someone to cause an interruption to the trunks designated for the 911 and 411 access - does not imply Y2K. Regarding the cell outage, you should take a look at ISP (in service performance) for any of the wireless providers...You will quickly see that we regularly have outages in that area due to normal problems operating a cellular or PCS system. Generally, we try to perform the work (that might cause an outage) in the Maintenance Window (12 - 5 AM) but sometimes we have a "hiccup" within the procedure and might have to extend the work beyond the window. Most national providers average less then 30 minutes of outage a year per switch - so what you probably saw was not related to Y2K.

-- william holst (wholst@hotmail.com), July 14, 1999.