B.C. Koodo and Telus mobility customers calling 911 on Monday may have been met with an alarming “call failed” signal.
The interruption to 911 services lasted from noon to about 4:45 p.m., according to E-Comm, B.C.’s primary 911 call taker and dispatcher. Callers were advised to find a phone with a different provider, or use a landline.
It was the second 911 service interruption this month.
On May 5, a 911 service disruption affected callers in the central and southern Interior. According to E-Comm, a subsequent investigation revealed the cause was an equipment failure on a piece of core technology within the TELUS network that allows 911 calls to be routed to the E-Comm emergency communications centre.
During that outage, 911 calls were re-routed to local police non-emergency lines until the primary answering system was restored five days later.
During Monday’s outage, E-Comm was still connecting dropped calls to first responders, said Kaila Butler, E-Comm communications manager.
“E-Comm was also working closely with our police partners to ensure that any failed calls coming through from Telus or Koodo customers were being called back,” she said. “We were getting that callback information and we were passing that over to the appropriate police agencies for phone-call follow-ups.”
Butler said E-Comm was unable to answer questions about the frequency of 911 service interruptions, but emphasized that the 911 agency will always issue a public notice when an outage occurs.
“We’re always working very closely with our police and fire partners to ensure our callers, whether they are one of the impacted providers or not, are able to get the emergency help they need,” she said.
In a statement, Telus — which owns Koodo — said its team “immediately conducted a thorough investigation” into Monday’s outage.
“We take our responsibility to provide safe and uninterrupted access to emergency services extremely seriously, and we know how critical this access is for our customers.”
Telus did not answer questions about the cause of the outage or how many customers were affected.
