A 9-1-1 call taker is seen in this undated image.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/E-comm
March 22, 2024 - 11:58 AM
A Telus service outage Thursday night meant 911 calls couldn't get through to at least some dispatchers in the Southern BC Interior.
Kamloops Fire Rescue was alerted by BC Ambulance Service just before midnight on March 21, when dispatchers for paramedics asked if they were getting 911 calls.
Kristina Bradley, the fire department's communications lead, said they tested their service and found it wasn't working.
There is no indication the department missed any emergency calls, and they were able to get an alternative connection with local dispatchers. Bradley said they weren't warned of an outage on the Telus system, which appears to have been planned.
According to a written statement from Telus, outages started around 11:10 p.m. There was an "unexpected issue" during two planned maintenance events, affecting cell phones, landlines, TV, internet and 911 service.
"Our teams investigated immediately and services were fully restored by 3:32 a.m.," the Telus statement read.
There's no indication the company proactively warned emergency services or any other customers that the service went down, nor that it did so when it discovered the issue.
Bradley said it was around 12:15 a.m. that an alternative 911 connection was made with support from E-Comm 911, but it wasn't until 3 a.m. that the Telus system was back online.
An E-Comm 911 spokesperson said it activated a backup system around midnight, allowing it to reconnect 911 services with the Okanagan and Kamloops.
The outage affected service across the Southern Interior, along with a few communities in Northern BC, according to RCMP.
BC RCMP spokesperson Cpl. James Grandy said it was non-emergency calls that were disrupted, but they were rerouted to call takers in Prince George.
— This story was updated at 3:48 p.m., March 22, 2024, with comments from Telus and E-Comm 911.
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