BellSouth Ready for Hurricane Season
Drawing upon its experience and recent improvements, BellSouth is prepared for the arrival of hurricanes or tropical storms in its service areas along the coast. The company is assuring customers that it is confident in its readiness and encouraging them to be safe and smart during storm season.
Working with the Federal Communications Commission and government agencies, the company has addressed issues related to first responder status and access to affected areas. Other preparedness efforts that include maintaining an active dialogue with its partners and suppliers to ensure they meet the company's supply needs before, during and after the storm hits, will allow BellSouth to maintain power, provide continuous connectivity and avoid widespread outages. "BellSouth has a tremendous amount of hurricane experience; however, the unprecedented damage during last year's hurricane season taught us a great deal about our network and what we needed to do to make it even stronger," said Bill Smith, BellSouth's Chief Technology Officer. "We are confident in our readiness and ability to keep our customers connected or, at a minimum, reconnect them quickly."
BellSouth has done a number of things in the past year to prepare for the 2006 hurricane season. The company has increased its supply of emergency generators to provide power to its network in the event commercial power is lost. Many of BellSouth's switching facilities now include permanent generators, some of which are fueled by natural gas and do not require re-fueling.
The company is emphasizing the need for customers to prepare for storms as well, offering tips to stay safe, smart and connected before, during, and after a hurricane or other natural disaster. "Just as important as our preparedness efforts, we want residents and businesses in Florida to be equally prepared," said Smith.
Some of BellSouth's suggestions include customers having a "Hurricane Phone"-a traditional wire line phone available in case the power goes out and making sure that wireless phones all work properly and are charged prior to the a storm. Customers should also refer to the Community Information Pages in local editions of The Real Yellow Pages® from BellSouth that includes critical information for hurricane and severe weather planning, survival, and recovery.
During and after storms, customers should use their phones for necessary calls only, leaving lines open for emergencies. The company suggests customers consider short/text messaging service as a communications alternative. Sending a text message requires less signal strength and can be a fast and effective alternative to voice calls during an emergency.
BellSouth is also one of the sponsors of the National Hurricane Survival Initiative, a comprehensive project to educate residents in hurricane-vulnerable states about the risks and the steps they can take to protect themselves. The company encourages residents to visit www.hurricanesaftey.org for more information on staying safe during storm season.
