Why did the Fraser Valley experience a 90-min 911 service outage?
Posted September 15, 2017 12:23 pm.
Last Updated September 15, 2017 12:28 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
ABBOTSFORD (NEWS 1130) – If you tried to call 911 in parts of the Fraser Valley last night, it’s possible you were out of luck.
Service was down for roughly an hour and a half, and E-Comm and the City of Abbotsford are still trying to figure out what went wrong.
Abbotsford is in the process of moving away from its own city-run system and over to the E-Comm network — with a full switch scheduled for next week.
Jody Robertson with E-Comm tells us that city did use that service temporarily yesterday for about six hours before something went wrong — part of the look at what happened last night will examine the backup system.
“E-Comm definitely has backup [mechanisms],” says Robertson. “That is part of the investigation that we’re looking into right now. The technology people from the various organizations — that will form part of the investigation.”
Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun says while the situation isn’t ideal, he was pleased with the response from the Abbotsford Police Department, which sent all available officers out on patrol during the 9-1-1 service outage.
“I’ve never had a piece of technology — even spaceships fail — so, it’s complicated technology,” says Braun. “Every once in a while, as it was related to me, a doohickey breaks — I don’t want the doohickey is, but I’m sure we’ll get a report.”
Police believe one person tried to reach 9-1-1 unsuccessfully but eventually got through to the cops on the non-emergency line.
