Posted on 03/08/2017 7:02:34 PM PST by Innovative
AT&T wireless customers throughout large parts of the country and in the state of Florida are unable to call 911 due to a technical problem.
The cause of the problem is unknown but officials both locally and throughout the southeast are working to fix the issue with AT&T, which is one of the largest wireless carriers in the nation.
Currently, AT&T says the problem is affecting customers in Florida, Georgia, Texas, Kentucky, Indiana and Tennessee, according to the Orange County officials. Each county has set up backup phone numbers so residents can reach first responders.
In Orange County, residents needing help can call 407-836-4357. If you live within city limits of Orlando, call 407-836-9919.
In Seminole County, residents can call 407-665-6650. If residents needing help call any of the above numbers, a dispatcher can transfer you to the correct agency, officials said.
In Orange County, the problem was discovered about 6 p.m. when someone had a medical issue.
(Excerpt) Read more at orlandosentinel.com ...
Got an emergency reverse 911 call from my Texas town with an alternate number to call for AT&T users. Getting ready for FEMA camp.
You hit the 9 then the 1 then another 1
Hope this helps
I am betting AT&T knows. They just don’t want to reveal the reason.
Great, that sets up everyone driving/riding for whatever, the bad guys want to do to us.
Also, if we need other help, we are sunk.
I don’t have a strong opinion on whether the split was good or bad, but I will say there has been a plus side.
On the plus side, phone costs have dropped in real dollars. Monthly bills are higher (not sure if that’s true in inflation-adjusted dollars), but most people can call anywhere in the US without paying huge toll fees. Back in the 60s, for most people, if you called more than about 50 miles away it was expensive and you probably only did this for emergencies.
I also suspect that we wouldn’t have smartphones had AT&T not broken up. You can regard that as a blessing or a curse. For me, it’s a modern miracle, but like anything powerful, it depends on the user as to whether it’s used well, abused, or wasted.
Electronic switching by computer drove long distance cost down. It was being put in about the time of the split order. Old system was a vast mechanical relay system requiring about a dozen workers to maintain plus Operators. My dad worked that part 20 years and it took 2 years of schools to learn. after ESS was system wide allowing in state long distance etc for free was more profitable than billing cost.
ALL line crews in the Telco were retired or fired? That did not happen.
Not all but a very high percentage were in fact GONE. Under the Bell before AT&T reacquisition you'd likely see a Bell truck if you went into any place but a very small town each time you went to town. Now they are much more rare. When AT&T bought back Southern Bell aka South Central Bell aka Bellsouth the Telco vans literally were not to be seen within a year or so. To be a Communications Company they offer the pits in talking to them.
I lived through that merger and what you stated has some truth buried amidst hyperbole. :-) Independent of mergers the old lineman union jobs have been steadily decreasing for years because landlines have been decreasing. Many young people and adults no longer even have landlines and the growth is on mobile “lines” and internet/broadband services. But if you look at Monster.com you can see they are actually hiring outside plant techs.
“If you have a medical emergency what will you do?”
You take personal responsibility and go see you doctor or call the doctor or go to the ER or a number of things. Why should tax payers have to be taxed further?
Last month, my family was forced to pay $9 for 911 service across our devices. Why?
It is no different than paying a tax for not having Obamacare.
Good luck.
I do see your points but in an emergency, we do what is most expedient.
Dad wasnt union and did take kindly to some threats made about ones who wouldn’t strike. Like I posted he wasnt in love with ma bell either. A lot of his friends made the wrong choice at the split and went AT&T. Very few still had jobs 5 years following. Same thing happened to his former Bellsouth work crew after he retired and AT&T bought Bellsouth back. Cable company phones are not emergency reliable. No utility power means no phone. Cell in lot of areas is hit and miss like mine. I keep a landline for my dial up internet and a trusty western electric touch tone in my home.
We sure do. About 10 years ago I got food poisoning. We live in the boonies, the closest little town 13 miles away but in a different county. At 2 o’clock A.M. I woke up so nauseated that as soon as I got up to puke, I passed out. My wife tried 911 but the town close to us and the county seat that is 30 miles away started passing the buck to each other. I said Phu-ket Thailand, we got in the car and drove the 22 miles to the hospital.
Yours is a very good example. Glad you made it.
“I said Phu-ket Thailand” Lol Are you a vet?
“but in an emergency, we do what is most expedient.”
Precisely the issue. Gubmint 911 is ready for “help”, which means to send cops, fire trucks, and a few ambulances. And use those “services” to recoup “responding” fees. A phone transferring service is at the heart of gubmint overreach. “Call 911!” has become the socialist chant.
How about an alternative MARKET driven approach. If there is a need for a “911 service”, there will be companies occupying that space. Pay for your own 911 fees, don’t force everybody else to do it.
Trip your home alarm system?
I grew up on a ranch. When someone got his coveralls tangled in a tractor’s power take off, we had no 911 to call. We loaded him in the back of a pickup and to the hospital we went.
That’s a possibility.
I read that a mother was at home with her two toddlers and an intruder was in the garage. She hit the alarm on her car key and the guy took off.
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