BellSouth Ready to Keep Customers Connected if Hurricane Frances Comes Calling
02 Septembre 2004 - 2:30PM
PR Newswire (US)
BellSouth Ready to Keep Customers Connected if Hurricane Frances
Comes Calling Key BellSouth tips to remember during hurricanes;
COLUMBIA, S.C., Sept. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Having recently withstood
the winds and rains of Tropical Storm Gaston and Hurricane Charley
in Charleston, BellSouth's network throughout South Carolina is
ready to face the threat of Hurricane Frances. With its network
design of fiber optics, underground cables and redundant routing,
back-up power generators on hand, and repair crews on standby;
BellSouth is ready to deliver the reliable service customers depend
upon. "Years of dealing with hurricanes and other severe weather
have helped us earn a reputation for reliability that is second to
none," said Harry Lightsey, president of BellSouth in South
Carolina. "Even though the telecommunications industry is
dramatically changing and competition is everywhere, the one
constant is our employees' dedication to disaster readiness and
maintenance of the BellSouth network. Our customers have learned
that BellSouth's network is resilient and reliable. We are as ready
as ever to maintain the excellent service they've learned to count
on." The first major threat to telecommunications services during
and after a storm is an electrical power outage that could cut off
service for telecommunications switching offices and area
distribution facilities. To prevent such interruption of service,
BellSouth provides immediate back-up through batteries followed by
electric power provided by diesel-powered electric generators.
Additionally, trees toppling in rain-soaked soil may bring down
aerial telephone cables. Should this occur, BellSouth crews are on
call to begin repairs as soon as safety permits. "BellSouth has a
significant amount of underground, fiber optic cable that is much
less susceptible to damage from wind, rain and debris," Lightsey
said. "We also have many redundant or alternate network paths we
use to deliver voice, data and Internet communications. This
greatly reduces the number of customer outages we experience from a
storm." Key BellSouth tips to remember during hurricanes and other
major storms: - Use your phone for necessary calls only, leaving
lines open for emergency calls. - As calling volumes increase,
customers may experience a slow dial tone. If you don't hear a dial
tone immediately when you pick up your phone, wait a few seconds
and you should get one. If not, hang up and try your call later. -
During a power outage, your phone line may be inoperable if your
cordless phone, caller ID unit or other telephone equipment
requires external power. Plug a non-electrical telephone directly
into a phone jack to verify if you have service. - For customers
and the news media, BellSouth has compiled a list of emergency
contact information on its website at
http://www.bellsouthcorp.com/emergency . This information can be
downloaded in advance for use as reference. During a hurricane or
other severe storm, BellSouth will update the site with status
information on the BellSouth network. - The front section of The
Real Yellow Pages provides many helpful hints, telephone numbers to
call for repair service, information for customers with
disabilities and more. - If you have a question but cannot find the
answer in The Real Yellow Pages, call the number listed for
residential or business services depending on your need. BellSouth
services that may be helpful during a hurricane - BellSouth's
CrisisLink(SM) service for businesses can designate alternate
routing of voice, data and video communications in the event normal
business operations at the usual locations are interrupted. For
example, if a major storm causes authorities to evacuate a
community where a business is located, a pre-established CrisisLink
plan would allow the business to reroute calls to another location.
CrisisLink service can also give a business the capability to place
test calls during or after a crisis to check the status of the
business' regular service or location before returning it to normal
operations. And the service can provide a customer with reports on
the number of lines affected during a crisis, the number of calls
rerouted and downtime experienced. - Remote Access to Call
Forwarding allows customers to activate or deactivate Call
Forwarding from any telephone equipped with touch-tone. - Call
Forwarding Don't Answer automatically routes calls that are not
answered within a designated number of rings to another
pre-selected telephone number. - Call Forwarding Busy Line service
automatically routes calls to another pre-selected telephone number
when the line is busy. Instead of the caller getting a busy signal,
the call is routed to the secondary number. - Memory Call(SM)
answering service provides for your calls to be answered and allows
the caller to leave a message when you are unable to answer your
telephone. You can retrieve the messages from any touch- tone
telephone. BellSouth tips for identifying possible service problems
For customers who experience a service problem, the following
questions will help them isolate, and perhaps resolve immediately,
the problem. - Using a cordless phone? In the event of a commercial
power outage, cordless phones will not work. Use a traditional
corded telephone. - Dial tone on one of your phones but not all?
Chances are the problem is in the phone itself. Unplug it from the
network. - Noise or static on the line? Try disconnecting all of
your telephones and related equipment (answering machines,
computers, FAX, caller-ID devices, etc.) and waiting at least one
minute. Then, reconnect your telephones one at a time to see if the
trouble still exists. Check for dial tone as you plug in each one.
If the problem stops, it is most likely associated with a specific
telephone or related equipment. If static returns once you have
reconnected a telephone device, the problem is most likely
associated with that item of equipment or the cord attached to that
equipment. - Can't receive telephone calls even though you have
dial tone? It is possible that Call forwarding has been activated
on your telephone. Try dialing *73 (or 1173 from a rotary dial
telephone) to disable this feature. - Can't make long distance
telephone call? For trouble completing long distance calls, please
call 1-700-555-4141 from the line where the trouble occurs or call
your chosen long distance carrier for additional support. If your
chosen carrier is BellSouth Long Distance, call 1-888-REPAIR8.
Residence customers who need to report a problem with their
BellSouth service should call 611 from their home phone. If calling
form a wireless phone, anon-BellSouth telephone number, or from
outside South Carolina, residence customers should call
1-800-642-0544. Business customers should call 1-866-620-6900 from
their business or 1-800-252-0803, if calling from a cellular phone.
About BellSouth Corporation BellSouth Corporation is a Fortune 100
communications company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and a
parent company of Cingular Wireless, the nation's second largest
wireless voice and data provider. Backed by award winning customer
service, BellSouth offers the most comprehensive and innovative
package of voice and data services available in the market. Through
BellSouth Answers(SM), residential and small business customers can
bundle their local and long distance service with dial up and high
speed DSL Internet access, satellite television and Cingular(R)
Wireless service. For businesses, BellSouth provides secure,
reliable local and long distance voice and data networking
solutions. BellSouth also offers online and directory advertising
through BellSouth(R) RealPages.com(SM) and The Real Yellow
Pages(R). More information about BellSouth can be found at
http://www.bellsouth.com/ . DATASOURCE: BellSouth Corporation
CONTACT: Marcia Purday, APR of BellSouth Corporation,
+1-803-401-2228 Web site: http://www.bellsouth.com/
http://www.bellsouthcorp.com/emergency Company News On-Call:
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