Planning takes place amidst continued restoration activities in New Orleans
ATLANTA, May 24 /PRNewswire/ -- With the start of the 2006 hurricane
season only one week away, BellSouth (NYSE: BLS) is prepared to respond
quickly and effectively should storms strike in the Southeast.
"Over the past nine months, BellSouth has remained intently focused on
restoration efforts in New Orleans and preparations for the 2006 hurricane
season," said Bill Smith, chief technology officer - BellSouth. "We are
enhancing our already robust storm-preparedness activities to ensure that
communications services can be maintained, or restored quickly, after any
weather-related events."
One of the most critical issues to BellSouth after a storm is providing
power to its network in the event that commercial power is lost. This year,
BellSouth has further increased its supply of generators to power the
network immediately after a storm hits. In addition, many of BellSouth
local digital loop carrier and switching facilities now house permanent
generators, some of which are fueled by natural gas and do not require
re-fueling. Over the past ten years, BellSouth has invested tens of
millions of dollars into its generator supply.
Given the unique nature of the flooding that occurred in New Orleans
after Hurricane Katrina, BellSouth has continued to focus on preparing its
facilities for another major flood event. For example, the company has
located more network-critical switches and generators on the upper floors
of buildings, as well as elevating low-lying key distribution facilities.
BellSouth is working collaboratively with the FCC and appropriate
government agencies to address issues related to first responder status and
access to impacted areas. In addition, BellSouth is in active dialogue with
its partners and suppliers to ensure they meet the company's supply needs
before, during and after a storm hits.
In 2005, BellSouth territory was struck by Hurricane Katrina, an
unprecedented natural disaster and the worst in the company's, and the
nation's, history. Given the location of its territory, BellSouth has dealt
with more hurricanes than any of its industry peers, and has built one of
the strongest, most resilient networks in the world.
"Just as important as our preparedness efforts, we want residents and
businesses in hurricane-prone areas to be equally prepared," continued
Smith. "That's why BellSouth is dedicating significant resources to
educating coastal communities on what they should do to prepare -- and
respond -- should a storm come their way."
BellSouth offers customers tips to help them stay safe and connected
before, during, and after a hurricane or other natural disaster:
Before the Storm:
- Be sure you have a "Hurricane Phone" -- a traditional wireline
telephone with a corded handset available in case your power goes out.
The base of a cordless phone requires commercial electricity and will
not work in a power outage.
- Check out the Community Information Pages in the local edition of the
Real Yellow Pages(R) from BellSouth. This section includes critical
information for hurricane and severe weather planning, survival, and
recovery. It also can be found online at http://www.realpageslive.com.
- Designate a friend or family member outside the storm area as a central
contact. Plan for everyone in your family to communicate with that
person to relay status and location information.
- Ensure that your home and business are equipped with the proper
telephone services to re-route communications in the event of a service
interruption. BellSouth offers products like BellSouth(R) Voice Mail,
CrisisLink(SM), Remote Access Call Forwarding, Call Forwarding Don't
Answer and Call Forwarding Busy Line.
- Make sure that your cordless and wireless cellular phones all work
properly and are charged and that you have extra batteries and car
chargers available.
- Program all emergency contact numbers into your Cingular Wireless(R)
phone. Make sure that everyone in your family has the home, work, and
cell numbers of family members, friends, and co-workers with whom they
will want to communicate.
- Consider additional cell phones for your family's use or for storage in
your safe room/basement. The Cingular(R) Family Talk and Prepaid plans
offer great options for staying in touch during an emergency.
- Consider downloading new tools that will give you the latest weather
forecasts and traffic updates. Cingular offers tools such as My-Cast
Weather, available for download at http://www.cingular.com/media, to help you
stay up-to-date over your wireless device.
- BellSouth posts emergency information on its Web site at
http://www.bellsouth.mediaroom.com. During a hurricane or other severe
storm, BellSouth will update the site with status information about the
BellSouth network.
During the Storm:
- Use your phone for necessary calls only, leaving lines open for
emergencies.
- During a power outage, your phone may be inoperable if your cordless
phone, caller ID unit or other telephone equipment requires external
power. Plug a non-electrical telephone directly into a phone jack to
verify if you have service.
- During periods of extremely high calling volume, you may experience a
slow dial tone. If you don't hear a dial tone immediately, wait a few
seconds or hang up and try your call again later.
- Consider short/text messaging service (SMS) 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.
After the Storm:
- The quickest and easiest way to report a problem with your phone
service is to contact BellSouth on the Web at http://www.bellsouth.com/repair.
- You may encounter delays in getting calls through because of high
demand for service; be patient and keep trying. It is still a crisis
situation -- keep your calls short to allow emergency calls to get
through.
More helpful hints and updated storm information can be found on the
BellSouth Web site at http://www.bellsouth.com/starlines (for consumers) and
http://www.bellsouth.com/businesslines (for businesses).
BellSouth is the premiere communications provider for the Southeastern
United States.
About BellSouth Corporation
BellSouth Corporation is a Fortune 500 communications company
headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. BellSouth has joint control and 40
percent ownership of Cingular Wireless, the nation's largest wireless voice
and data provider with 55.8 million customers.
Backed by award-winning customer service, BellSouth offers the most
comprehensive and innovative package of voice and data services available
in the market. Through BellSouth Answers(R), residential and small business
customers can bundle their local and long distance service with dial-up and
high-speed DSL Internet access, satellite television and Cingular(R)
Wireless service. For businesses, BellSouth provides secure, reliable local
and long distance voice and data networking solutions. BellSouth also
offers print and online directory advertising through The Real Yellow
Pages(R) and YELLOWPAGES.COM(TM) from BellSouth.
BellSouth believes that diversity and fostering an inclusive
environment are critical in maintaining a competitive advantage in today's
global marketplace. More information about BellSouth can be found at
http://www.bellsouth.com.
SOURCE BellSouth Corporation
back to top
