Most 911 Centers Said Y2K Ready

Updated 5:46 PM ET December 20, 1999

By KALPANA SRINIVASAN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - After a startlingly low response rate last month on 911 call centers' readiness for the yearend rollover, a new survey indicates more than 98.5 percent of the centers say their equipment is now Y2K ready.

In the latest survey from the National Emergency Number Association, nearly all of the nation's 911 call centers reported that they can continue to provide enhanced services - like pinpointing where a person is calling from - once the date changes.

Those numbers represent a marked increase from the earlier White House report on Y2K preparedness, which said that only half of America's 911 call centers had confirmed that they were ready.

Public safety officials say 911 call centers have stepped up both their compliance and reporting efforts.

"In the interim period, we believe that the vast majority of (public safety answering points) and telephone companies have taken steps to bring their systems up to Y2K compliance," said Joe Hanna, president of the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials.

NENA also has made additional queries about Y2K readiness, even phoning individual sites, garnering responses from 96 percent of the more than 4,360 call centers nationwide.

"Sometimes there is a reluctance just to fill out another survey," said Mark Adams, executive director of NENA. In other cases, centers didn't complete their Y2K compliance efforts until the second half of the year.

In other Y2K news:

-U.S. embassies abroad will stop issuing nonimmigrant visas for the first two working days of the new year and stop issuing immigrant visas for the first two weeks, the State Department's Office of Overseas Citizen Services said Monday.

-District of Columbia officials said Monday that they will have thousands of officers in place New Year's weekend.

"Certainly there will be heightened security measures at all government buildings," said D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey. In addition to the Metropolitan Police Department's 3,520 officers, the FBI, ATF, the National Park Service police, the D.C. National Guard, and the Defense Department also will have thousands of personnel on duty.

Federal Y2K officials said they remain wary about computer security.

"We're all concerned about hackers, criminals or others who will be trying to take advantage of that weekend," said John Koskinen, President Clinton's top Y2K adviser.

On the 911 compliance efforts, all of the call centers say they will be able to perform basic services, like answering calls and dispatching emergency response teams, according to NENA. Centers that did not report being Y2K ready may not have fully fixed problems with "a piece of recording equipment or a mapping program that's helpful but not necessary," said Adams.

In those instances, callers may have to tell the operator their address instead of the computer immediately spotting it.

Public safety officials say the 911 problems that could arise over the New Year's weekend may have nothing to do with computer or phone systems. Rather, they may result from people wanting to test the emergency system or too many people picking up their phones to make calls at once.

"What everyone is concerned about is that people continue to use 911 responsibly, realizing that it's for true emergencies," Adams said.

Experts also recommend that people keep on hand direct numbers for fire and police departments, and other emergency services in their area.

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Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), December 20, 1999

Answers

Whew!!! Good news, it's about time. I must say I am impressed, just a few weeks ago they were not even close??

Hat's off for getting 911 ready.

-- Rich (Rluck@aol.com), December 20, 1999.

Isn't it just amazing what a few strokes of the keyboard can accomplish ??? Whew, I was worried there for a while but all is peachy now. Now ya see it, now ya don't ! ***POOF***

-- Rob (maxovrdrv51@hotmail.com), December 20, 1999.

I was working at the City of Fort Worth in January of 1999 when an IT representative for the Police system went to L.A. to learn about a new 911 system. They chose this system, as did Arlington and (I'm quite sure) Dallas. Old 911 systems were NOT remediated. New, compliant systems were purchased. This is why things rolled so quickly on 911.

-- Anita (notgiving@anymore.com), December 20, 1999.

Yessir, these new systems are guaranteed compliant, sir!

Right.

-- nothere nothere (notherethere@hotmail.com), December 21, 1999.