Boone County Joint Communications says their backup systems functioned as intended, after a fiber cut near Jefferson City impacted 911 service in the Columbia area for more than 12 hours.
The service was fully restored at about 9:30 on Tuesday morning. The phone outages experienced by Boone County Joint Communications impacted 911 phone lines. Boone County Joint Communications director Christie Davis tells 939 the Eagle that 911 calls to Boone County were automatically rerouted to the Jefferson City Police Department:
“When there is an outage for 911 services, when the calls cannot be rerouted directly to our PCAP, which is a public safety answering point, it is routed to the next location which for us is going to be (the) Jefferson City Police Department,” Ms. Davis says.
Joint Communications in Columbia dispatched staff members to the Capital City on Monday evening to answer Boone County 911 calls and ensure that emergency services in Boone County received timely information.
Boone County Joint Communications says Monday’s fiber cut in Jefferson City that impacted 911 service in the Columbia area also impacted 911 centers in mid-Missouri’s Audrain and Callaway counties. Boone County Joint Communications director Davis says 911 calls to Boone County were automatically rerouted to the Jefferson City Police Department. She emphasizes that every call was received and answered:
“It automatically rolls to them to ensure that anytime someone calls 911, their call is not going unanswered. That a trained professional is still able to answer their call, even if they don’t have the immediate capabilities to communicate with us. We have protocols and technology in place to make sure that we can get that information,” Ms. Davis says.
