All citizens know that help is only a simple phone call away. 911 – The universal number for help. Yesterday, February 20, 2013, the unforeseen "glitch" reared its' ugly head.
Levy County receives service through the local phone carrier. The carrier lost service for unknown reasons in their Gainesville facility which feeds the Levy County PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point). Most were unaware of this issue; thanks to the foresight of 911 Coordinator Mike West. Peering into the "what if" situation, Levy 911 had a plan and this plan worked like a charm.
Levy 911 already had a MOU (memorandum of understanding) in place with Alachua County. Levy County citizens who needed help and called 911 between the hours of 3:30 PM and 8:30 PM were unaware there was a problem or that their calls had been routed through the Alachua County Sheriff's Office. As Mr. West put it; "Alachua County operators were able to forward Levy County 911 calls to the appropriate local operators, who immediately dispatched the necessary services. No calls were missed and Levy County did not experience any interruption of services." Levy County 911 Operators were sent to Alachua County to assist their communications operators with the anticipated call load increase. Meanwhile, Mr. West worked with AT&T on site in Levy County to correct the issue.
Shortly after 8:30 PM, 911 for Levy County was again on-line and functioning properly. This is another example of the quality service Levy County Sheriff's Office is dedicated to providing for its citizens and the top notch staff we employ to guarantee your safety.
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Lt. Scott Tummond
Criminal Investigations Division
Levy County Sheriff's Office
(352) 486-5111