WITH TIDE OF TROUBLE RISING, EMERGENCY AGENCY TURNS TO VERIZON
A call for help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
came into our Enterprise Customer Service Center in Boston late one
Friday afternoon last month. President Bush had declared five
flooded counties in Massachusetts a disaster area and, with more
rain predicted, FEMA was preparing for the worst. FEMA was
requesting service to an emergency call center for flood victims by
Monday. The request for 12 analog lines, a T1 and a PRI typically
takes 15 to 20 business days, but by 11:30 that evening, the
Enterprise team had activated its plan, completed systems
engineering; and called-in from vacation a Baltimore employee to
assign critical central office equipment. Meanwhile, National
Service scheduled a field technician to install services and test
the circuit. Service was turned up Saturday afternoon, in time for
FEMA to open its center Tuesday morning.