The New York State Department of Public Service will investigate disruptions in the 911 emergency telephone systems that affected more than 400,000 Verizon and Frontier Communications customers in portions of Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Ulster and Sullivan counties.
“The public relies on 911 service as a lifeline to ensure they get fast and immediate assistance should any kind of life-threatening or other safety emergency occurs,” said department Chief Executive Officer Audrey Zibelman.
The department’s investigation will evaluate why back-up systems designed to ensure continued service operations failed, and what improvements might be needed. The goal of the review would be to prevent and mitigate future outages.
The investigation is expected to take two months.