Issue resolved for AT&T customers calling 911
Several cities across the state and the nation experienced disruptions with 911 calls from AT&T wireless customers for several hours Monday night.
AT&T tweeted around 9:30 p.m. that the issue had been resolved.
When AT&T wireless customers called 911, many were getting busy tones or the phone just kept ringing.
AT&T customers were urged to dial the main line for their police department until the 911 issue was resolved.
The main concern was that dispatchers could not get an exact GPS location from callers. People who call the non-emergency line must tell dispatch their address or street intersection or landmark.
"If someone makes a 911 call and hangs up, our dispatch can pretty much grid where that 911 call came from," explained Donald English with the Wylie Police Department. "Unfortunately with our system now, because it's down, officers can't do that. So it's very important people stay on the line, talk to our dispatchers and give whatever location they can give us so people can respond."
It’s unclear what caused the outage. AT&T released the following statement to FOX4 before the issue was resolved:
The FCC chairman said their public safety staff is investigating the outage.
The 911 glitch affecting T-Mobile customers in Dallas is not related to this outage.
While the outage has been fixed, public officials say it's a perfect time to save the non-emergency number for your local police department.
Alternative Numbers
Addison: (469) 289-3270
Arlington: (817) 274-4444
Balch Springs: (972) 557-6000
Bedford: (817) 952-2127
Carrollton: (469) 289-2370
Cedar Hill, Duncanville & DeSoto: (972) 223-6111
Coppell: (972) 304-3610
Dallas: (214) 744-4444
Denton County: (940) 349-1600
Euless: (817) 685-1526
Farmers Branch: (469) 289-3270
Fort Worth: (817) 392-4222
Frisco: (972) 292-6010
Garland: (972) 485-4840
Grapevine: (817) 410-8127
Haltom City: (817) 281-1000
Highland Park: (214) 521-5000
Kaufman County: (469) 376-4500
Keller: (817) 743-4522
Little Elm: (940) 349-1600
Mansfield: (817) 473-0211
McKinney: (972) 547-2700
Midlothian: (972) 775-3333
Mineral Wells: (940) 328-7770
Navarro County: (903) 654-3001
North Richland Hills: (817) 281-1000
Plano: (972) 424-5678
Prosper: (972) 347-2226
Red Oak: (972) 723-9910
Richardson: (972) 744-4800
Rockwall County: (972) 204-7001
Rusk County: (903) 657-3581
Sherman: (903) 892-7290
Southlake: (817) 743-4522
The Colony: (972) 625-1887
University Park: (214) 363-3000
Weatherford: (817) 598-4300
Westlake: (817) 743-4522
Wylie: (972) 442-2222