Apparently Verizon has had some problem when handling emergency calls, as the word is during a storm late January the Big Red actually managed to drop thousands of emergency 911 calls, something the Federal Communications Commissions isn’t too happy about.
According to an article over on the Boy Genius Report, and by way of Wireless Week, roughly ten thousand 911 calls were placed on the Big Red network in Maryland during a major snowstorm on January 26th and were dropped.
James Arden Barnett, FCC public safety and security chief wrote a letter to the US carrier saying… “The large number of missed 9-1-1 calls on January 26 is truly alarming. I therefore request that Verizon provide an explanation of the causes of this and similar failures, provide Verizon’s assessment of the possibility of occurrence in other locations and describe what actions Verizon is taking to prevent recurrence of these problems.”
Apparently the Federal Communications Commission has requested a written reply from Verizon over their inquiry and also to attend a meeting with them within 2 weeks so that a resolution of the issue can be discussed.
The director of public relations for Verizon Communications, Harry Mitchell, said in a statement… “Our objective is to provide the best service to our customers, and we will continue to work with 911 centers and others to ensure that callers receive the level of service they deserve and expect when they call 911.”
If you wish, you can check out the full FCC letter sent to Verizon on the 17th of Feb by hitting up here, (PDF)
Time to slap the Big Red on the wrist and make sure they sort out their problems so this never happens again, especially when it comes to emergency calls don’t you agree?
