Police Departments Utilized Social Media During Temporary 911 Outage For AT&T Customers
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Police departments across South Florida acted swiftly Wednesday night, providing additional phone lines for AT&T customers who are unable to reach 911 because of the nationwide outage.
At around 9:50 p.m., AT&T announced on Twitter they are aware of the problem affecting wireless users.
Aware of issue affecting some calls to 911 for wireless customers. Working to resolve ASAP. We apologize to those affected.
— AT&T (@ATT) March 9, 2017
A company spokesperson could not immediately provide more details on how many states were affected by the outage or when the problem would be fixed.
About an hour after acknowledging the issue, AT&T tweeted they had restored 911 capabilities.
Issue has been resolved that affected some calls to 911 from wireless customers. We apologize to those who were affected.
— AT&T (@ATT) March 9, 2017
During the outage, local police departments used social media to share phone numbers citizens could have used in case of an emergency.
These were the alternative numbers they shared:
- Miami-Dade – (305) 476-5423
- Miami Beach – (305) 673-7900 or (305) 673-7901
- City of Miami – (305) 579-6111
- Coral Springs – (954) 344-1800
- Plantation – (954) 797-2100
- Broward/Fort Lauderdale/Davie/Lauderhill/Hallandale – (954) 764-4357
The departments recommend residents keep these numbers handy in case a future problem arises.
Authorities in several parts of the U.S. reported the same problem Wednesday night. They also offered alternatives for those looking to contact emergency services.