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County commissioners flag phone-system and internet vulnerabilities affecting emergency dispatch
Summary
Commissioners discussed ongoing problems with a phone-system upgrade, the loss of a local carrier, and contingency plans for dispatch if internet-based services fail, and left further action for staff.
County commissioners discussed ongoing problems with a courthouse phone-system upgrade and the county’s dependence on internet service for telephones, and they left the item on the agenda for further work.
The discussion matters because commissioners said the county’s phone lines are being migrated from a carrier called 3 Rivers to internet-based service and the transition has encountered technical problems, raising questions about how emergency calls and dispatch would be handled if the internet fails.
Commissioners reported that a test phone has not yet been successfully transferred from 3 Rivers to the county’s internet provider and that 3 Rivers indicated it will no longer service the phone system. Commissioners discussed options including staying with 3 Rivers while it still supplies service or switching to another local carrier; concerns were raised that the other local vendor under consideration may not be a long-term business and could retire in a few years, leaving the county with a system lacking vendor support.
Commissioners noted that when the internet does go down, county operations that rely on it—including phones—can be disrupted. One commissioner described prior incidents in which the sheriff’s office relied on cell phones when landlines or internet-dependent systems were unavailable. A commissioner recalled a satellite phone previously paid for by a health-department grant but said there have been no recent bills and that the device appears not to be active.
Commissioners asked whether the county’s 911 provider requires landlines; a commissioner said their understanding was that the 911 provider requires a landline. Commissioners discussed continuing to use cell phones and landlines for essential functions like road department operations and sheriff dispatch when internet service is interrupted.
No formal motion to change providers was recorded; the phone-system upgrade item remained on the agenda for further work and troubleshooting.
The county will need to resolve vendor-support and 911-routing questions before completing the upgrade. Staff and commissioners left the matter open for follow-up.
