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Company also readies network CHARLOTTE, N.C., Sept. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Cingular Wireless has mobilized its emergency operations team as Hurricane Ophelia gains strength off the Carolina coast. Cingular conducts ongoing readiness drills throughout the year and has a rigorous emergency preparedness and response process in place for these types of natural disasters. "Wireless phones are the only line of communication for many people during and after hurricanes and we want consumers to know what they can do to maximize the use of their device during a storm," said Rob Forsyth, vice president/general manager, Cingular Wireless, North and South Carolina. "We have the necessary emergency resources in place to quickly respond and are prepared for what Ophelia may bring." Cingular offers consumers these important tips in preparation for the storm: - Program all emergency contact numbers into your wireless phone. Store numbers for the police department, fire station, hospital, as well as your family members so you don't have to think about it during and after an emergency. - Have a family communications plan in place. Designate someone out of the area as a central contact, and make certain all family members know who to contact if they become separated. - Keep your wireless phone batteries charged at all times. Use your car charger to charge your wireless phone when power is out, or pick up a disposable battery that will give you an hour of talk time without any charging. - Keep your wireless phone dry and protected. The biggest threat from hurricanes is water versus wind damage so keep your equipment safe from the elements by storing it in a plastic sandwich or freezer bag. - Forward your home number to your wireless number in the event of an evacuation. Since call forwarding is based out of the telephone central office, you will get incoming calls from your landline phone, even if your local telephone service is disrupted at your home. In the unlikely event the central office is isolated, call forwarding may not work. - Consider additional cell phones for your family's use. If you want to add additional cell phones to your wireless service, remember to do so prior to the emergency. Staying in touch and maximizing your wireless service during and after an emergency: - Try text messaging, or SMS (Short Messaging Service). Most wireless phones today are text messaging capable, and often times during an emergency situation such as a hurricane, text messages will go through quicker than voice calls. More importantly, using text messaging helps free up the voice lines for emergency officials. - Use a landline phone if it is available. In many instances, landline service may still be available in your area so this still may be an option. - Keep non-emergency calls to a minimum. Remember to limit your calls to the most important ones. Chances are that if there is severe weather, many people will be attempting to place wireless calls to loved ones, friends and business associates. If the landline phones are not working, this probability increases. - Wait 10 seconds before redialing a call. On many wireless phones, to redial a number, you simply push "send" after you've ended a call to redial the previous number. If you do this too quickly, the data from the phone to the cell sites does not have enough time to clear before you've resent the same data and may contribute to network congestion. - Use your wireless phone to access weather information. Many homes lose power during severe weather. If you have a wireless phone that provides access to the Internet, you can watch the Weather Channel through Cingular's Mobi-TV service or through My-Cast Weather. - If you have a camera phone, take, store and send photos of damaged property to your insurance company from your device. The company has designated its Charlotte switching facility as its emergency response staging area where equipment and personnel will be on stand by. Network preparations include the staging of more than 100 portable generators, several portable cell sites, 10,000 gallons of fuel, and several hundred network technicians and engineers in and around the region, to ensure customers and emergency agencies have reliable wireless service before, during and after the storm. About Cingular Wireless Cingular Wireless is the largest wireless carrier in the United States, serving 51.6 million customers. Cingular, a joint venture between SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC) and BellSouth Corporation (NYSE:BLS), has the largest digital voice and data network in the nation -- the ALLOVER(SM) network -- and the largest mobile-to-mobile community of any national wireless carrier. Cingular is the only U.S. wireless carrier to offer Rollover(R), the wireless plan that lets customers keep their unused monthly minutes. Details of the company are available at http://www.cingular.com/ . Get Cingular Wireless press releases e-mailed to you automatically. Sign up at http://cingular.mediaroom.com/. DATASOURCE: Cingular Wireless CONTACT: Dawn Benton of Cingular Wireless, +1-404-236-5305, or wireless, +1-404-202-6334, or Web site: http://www.cingular.com/ http://cingular.mediaroom.com/

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