11.6.24 – Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette – Fort Smith
The Fort Smith Police Department reported a potential disruption in 911 service Wednesday affecting certain Voice Over Internet Protocol customers across Arkansas, including those in Fort Smith.
This service issue, reported by AT&T, may prevent some customers from successfully placing 911 calls due to a network event. As a result, some calls may automatically redirect to nonemergency administrative lines, according to a news release from the Police Department.
AT&T’s 911 Resolution Center issued a notification that there is currently no estimated time for repair. In response, police urge all residents who rely on affected services to be aware of the potential disruption, the release states.
Residents impacted by the outage can attempt calling 911 again or contact the police through the nonemergency line directly at (479) 709-5100.
Despite the outage, the RapidSOS system remains active and will notify police of failed 911 calls, the release states. Police may attempt to reach back in cases where contact is lost.
The public may receive updates from AT&T as the situation develops, and the Police Department will continue to monitor the issue and provide additional information as it becomes available, according to the release.