Township’s phone-alert system still suffers from bugs

Verizon’s call-screening service blocks emergency notification calls

By: David Campbell
   Princeton Township is still working out the bugs in its emergency phone alert system that block emergency messages to residents who screen calls through Verizon’s telephone service.
   The township discovered the glitch during tests begun more than a year ago, and the problem persists with at least 30 township residences, said Theodore Cashel, the township’s fire official and emergency management coordinator.
   In tests, some emergency calls were blocked by caller ID, a problem easily solved, but others were blocked by Verizon’s call-screening service, which has proved a bit trickier.
   Caller ID boxes that display the name and phone number of a caller registered the emergency calls as "out of area" because they could not identify Community Action Network, the Albany, N.Y.-based high-speed telephone company that provides the township’s emergency phone service and operates 256 outgoing phone lines.
   That problem was solved with a phone call to Community Action Network. The company agreed to register its calls under "CAN emergency," which will now appear on caller ID screens.
   But working around the Verizon screening function was not so easy because the phone company’s electronic system cannot distinguish the emergency calls from telemarketing calls, and after a year the problem persists.
   Community Action Network is working with Verizon, but according to Mr. Cashel, "We can’t actually see the light at the end of the tunnel just yet. There’s not much we can do on our end here except alert known people of the problem."
   To that end, Mr. Cashel’s office has contacted the households known to be affected by the problem and offered to give them CAN’s number so their answering service can identify emergency calls if they come in. Only one of those contacted asked for the number, Mr. Cashel said.
   He said the CAN system is not intended as a cure-all, even without the problems with Verizon. Cable television, radio and e-mail are also part of the emergency-alert "toolbox," and can be used to alert affected households, Mr. Cashel said.
   It is up to new residents to register for the emergency-phone service. To alert them to the service, application forms usually are provided during smoke-detector compliance reviews and when the township Building Department issues certificates of occupancy for new dwellings, Mr. Cashel said.
   The CAN service is able to call up to 15,000 numbers an hour, and a software mapping package enables the township to issue a blanket alert or limit it to affected areas.
   Should an emergency such as a water-main break occur, a township official can call the network from work, home or a cellular phone, provide a password, then record a short message to be phoned to residences and businesses advising of the incident, with instructions.