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Maybe that 911 call from your cell phone will go through and maybe it won't

Boston fire boxes always work

An important message from Local 718 - Boston's fiyahfightas.

Update, 12 p.m. Mass EMA reports continued sporadic problems with wireless 911 calls.

State Police report that a problem at a Louisiana-based data network that had knocked wireless 911 service off the air in Massachusetts and other states overnight has been fixed. CenturyLink first noticed the problem, which it described only in vague terms, yesterday afternoon.

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Comments

It's worrisome how interconnected we are that a data network in Louisiana can cut off critical infrastructure in a bunch of states. Getting my cups and string ready for 2019.

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I'm old enough to remember a time before 911 when you had to know the local police phone number or dial the operator and ask to be connected. And when you had to flag someone down or knock on a random door if you were out and needed help because cell phones weren't a thing.

So I'd say things are much improved even if there's the occasional glitch.

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It's been so long since I've dialed "0". Are there still even operators there?

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How else do you call collect?

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Collect calling is still a thing?

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However, your phone company needs to support it. Mobile Phone providers do not. Comcast does not. Only ones who still do are LECs (i.e. Verizon (landline), Consolidated, Windstream, etc)

Most don't because they don't want to deal with third party billing.

On a related note, I can't remember the last time I 'selected' a long distance carrier. Most landlines now are unlimited anywhere in the US.. it kinda negates the need for selecting one.

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Isn't it more important for the phone company of the number you're CALLING to support collect calls?

If it still exists, you can call 1-800-COLLECT or equivalent no matter what your phone is, but the other phone company has to accept it.

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I'm old enough to remember a time before 911...

Somewhat off-topic, but I'm old enough to remember a time when you could dial WE ("weather") 6-1212 to get a weather forecast, and (believe it or not) you could dial NERVOUS to get the time. The biggest change though, I think, is cultural: an incoming phone call in that era was sacred: people would jump up to answer the ringing, even though nobody knew who it was from (no caller ID). Now most people don't even answer their phone at all unless they recognize the incoming number, or it's in their phone's address book.

I even remember telegram jokes -- a vestige of the pre-phone era -- although I never actually sent or received a telegram.

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(yes, the candy company) to get the time.

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than is being reported. CenturyLink went down and this caused issues with ATMs, internet access, cellphone service, etc. Across the country. I don't understand why it has recieved such little media coverage.

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And apparently this has been going on since yesterday..........

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Local Boston TV stations reported it as
did CNN... unsure about right wing media.

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Did 'leftwing media' under-report it? Where can a person go to get unbiased news?

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So I'm not sure everything's fixed?

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Also, an alert came over my co-workers FM radio as well.

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https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/12/28/internet-outage-affecting-w...

Btw Boston 911 seven digit version is 617-343-4911

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Maybe not?

My cell just went off saying 911 might not work and to call the local PD for emergencies.

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Is it definitely okay now? I just got an alert on my cell phone.

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Thank you Louisiana!

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Maybe time to rethink that raise for the "best. govenah. evah"? But of course it's not his fault. Nothing ever is.

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Back in the day, it seemed like lots of people were quick to blame every little thing on Obama (or Clinton or Bush...OK they were right about Bush.) Anyway, I became sensitive to people blaming the guy in charge for everything. Charlie has as little to do with this outage as Trump does, and you know I'd love to blame it Donald.

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My unsolicited opinion is it sure would have been nice if MA had a backup plan for this sort of stuff, but the people we're paying to think about extremely important public-interest matters (like whether our utilities are safe, emergency reaponse systems functional, etc) just sit around looking good and giving themselves raises. Standards for government service have just fallen way too low. Maybe it's everyone's fault.

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If you want a back-up to the back-up you gotta pay for it. Don't we pay a buck or so a month on cell bills to e-911? If they tried to raise it to $2 people would have a bird.

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For something that went wrong with a LA company? Look, I know you anti-Baker fetishists are very high strung, but you have to stop blaming him for every little thing for 4 solid years between elections. Maybe take 2 years off before you inflict your hysteria on us.

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There are 49 other states that have bad governors. Thankfully for some, they will be getting new governors in a few days.

Personally, I see the fault as lying with the company behind the SNAFU. Perhaps in months to come there will be numerous stories of how this could have been prevented, but since all 50 states dealt with this, and since it was a system that has probably been in place for years, Baker should probably get a pass on this one.

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Outages are more widespread than that.

Homework is a thing.

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