SBC Network Prepared to Handle Calls for Millions of American Idol Fans
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Approximately 38 million additional calls handled by SBC's network
after last week's semi-final round
SAN ANTONIO, May 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Last Tuesday, the SBC
telecommunications network processed close to 145 million phone calls in a
two-hour span of time after Fox's hit reality TV show American Idol ended, as
customers throughout the company's 13-state region called to register their
votes in the show's semi-finals. The next night, the SBC network processed
nearly one-third less calls -- approximately 106 million -- during the same
two hours.
"Last week's incredibly high voting volume gave us a good indication of
what to expect this coming week," said Angie Wiskocil, SBC senior vice
president, network services. Company network monitoring specialists have
noticed the numbers of voting phone calls increasing each week as the field of
American Idol performers was narrowed. Anticipating that millions of
additional calls will be made by American Idol fans calling to make their
final vote of the season and discuss the vote with friends, the company has
made sure that it is well prepared to deal with the volume.
"We built our network to be strong enough to survive a hurricane, flood or
other natural disaster, but it is also flexible enough to adapt to enable our
technicians to handle a surge in calls due to a radio call-in contest, rock
concert ticket sale or American Idol voting," said Wiskocil.
While the company's network is designed to handle heavy call volumes, the
initial surge when millions of SBC customers pick up their telephones
simultaneously as the voting lines open this Tuesday, May 20th could cause
some callers to experience a "fast busy" signal, as the network provides far
more than the usual number of customers with a dial tone to place their calls.
Wiskocil explains: "If callers hear a fast busy signal on Tuesday night, we
encourage them to hang up and try their call again in a little while. Our
network experts have advised that if callers can wait approximately 30 minutes
after the show ends, they will most likely get through on the first try."
Wiskocil indicated that, for some parts of their service area, SBC takes
special precautions to protect the network -- causing the fast busy signal at
random as the very robust network begins to reach capacity for any of its
thousands of telecommunications facilities.
"American Idol fans should know that our technicians are constantly
monitoring the status of our network and are standing by, ready to re-route
traffic if necessary. We encourage all of our customers to participate and
cast a vote for Clay or Ruben."
SBC Communications Inc. (
http://www.sbc.com) is one of the world's leading data,
voice and Internet services providers. Through its world-class networks, SBC
companies provide a full range of voice, data, networking and e-business
services, as well as directory advertising and publishing. A Fortune 30
company, SBC is America's leading provider of high-speed DSL Internet Access
services and one of the nation's leading Internet Service Providers. SBC
companies currently serve 57 million access lines nationwide. In addition, SBC
companies own 60 percent of America's second-largest wireless company,
Cingular Wireless, which serves 22 million wireless customers.
Internationally, SBC companies have telecommunications investments in 27
countries.