On June 18, Massachusetts' leaders discovered that the statewide 911 system was down, leading to a rapid response to manage the crisis. Police disseminated administrative numbers for callers, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu provided updates during a press conference, and local officials directed residents to use fire alarm boxes.
Approximately 7 million people were without 911 service for two hours. This incident highlights a recurrent issue in the fragmented U.S. emergency response system, with outages reported in at least eight states this year. These problems stem from significant disparities in system age, capabilities, and funding. While some areas have modernized their systems, many others lag behind.
911 services are typically funded through fees on phone bills, supplemented by state and local funds. Jonathan Gilad, VP of Government Affairs at the National Emergency Number Association (NENA), emphasized the inequity: "Next-generation 911 shouldn't be for people who happen to have an emergency in a good location."
Federal legislation to modernize the 911 system remains stalled in Congress. George Kelemen, Executive Director of the Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies (iCERT), stressed the urgency: "In a crisis—school shootings, house fires, terrorist attacks—people call 911 first. The system can't go down."
The U.S. introduced a universal 911 emergency number in February 1968, but the system has evolved into a complex network of over 6000 call centers handling 240 million calls annually. Over 75% of these centers experienced outages in the past year, according to a February survey by NENA and Carbyne.
Recent outages affected millions in Nebraska, Nevada, South Dakota, and Texas due to a severed fiber line. A February outage disrupted service in several states, including California and Georgia. In June, Verizon settled a $1.05 million fine for a 2022 outage affecting 6 states.
The fires on Maui last August underscored the importance of 911 systems. Dispatchers handled over 4500 contacts on August 8, compared to 400 on a typical day. However, service outages hindered response efforts, prompting Maui County to sue 4 telecom companies for failing to inform dispatchers about the outages.
Legislation in states like Florida, Illinois, Montana, and Oklahoma aims to modernize 911 systems by replacing analog infrastructure with digital, internet-based systems. These next-generation systems can pinpoint caller locations, accept texts, and receive videos and images, with built-in redundancies to minimize outages.
Despite legislative efforts, including a bill by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers to allocate nearly $15 billion for next-generation 911 deployment, progress has stalled. Former Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairs have urged Congress to prioritize 911 upgrades, potentially using unspent COVID-19 funds.
Ajit Pai, former FCC chair, highlighted the impact of outdated systems: "You may never need to call 911, but it can make the difference between life and death. We need more organized federal efforts because 911 is so decentralized."
In Massachusetts, the recent outage was linked to a firewall designed to prevent hacking. April Heinze, Chief of 911 Operations at NENA, noted the reliance on 911: “Outages bring to everyone’s attention that we rely on 911 and we don’t think about how we really rely on it until something happens."
Mass General Brigham, a Boston-area health system, issued emergency alerts during the outage, providing alternative 10-digit emergency numbers to clinics. Chief Preparedness and Continuity Officer Paul Biddinger emphasized the significance of these backups: "Two hours can be a long time."