UPDATE 3/13: 2:40 p.m.

Gallatin County officials released the following statement Wednesday afternoon about the issues affecting 911 communications:

The issues between telecommunication companies that were causing 911 calls from Verizon Wireless phones in Gallatin County to go to nonemergency lines have been resolved.

Emergency calls from Verizon phones are now going to the correct emergency lines at the Gallatin County 911 Center.

Due to an issue between Verizon Wireless, CenturyLink and Zayo, telecom companies that provide services for the Gallatin County 911 Center, 911 calls from Verizon phones were being diverted to the center’s nonemergency lines.

The issue began intermittently over the weekend, then all calls from Verizon phones were being sent to the nonemergency lines starting on Tuesday.

Jim Anderson, director of Gallatin County 911, reported that on Wednesday afternoon the issues had been resolved and calls were going to the correct lines. He thanks Gallatin County 911 Center dispatchers and staff for their diligence in efficiently working around these issues the last few days.

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All phone calls to 911 from Verizon Wireless phones are being re-routed to the Gallatin County dispatch's two non-emergency lines.  If you have an emergency and call 911 from your Verizon Wireless phone be sure to do the following:

  • Immediately inform the dispatcher that it's an emergency
  • Tell them your location (non-emergency lines don’t provide location data)
  • If you get a busy signal, quickly hang up and call again until your call is answered

The problem is due to a telecommunication company issue between Verizon Wireless, CenturyLink and Zayo. The staff at the Gallatin County 911 Center is working diligently to adjust to these issues as efficiently as possible but currently there is no time frame on when these issues will be resolved.

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