WSYR-TV in Syracuse

One television station in central New York has helped provoke Time Warner Cable into fixing flaws with its Digital Phone service and how it handles emergency calls to 911.

WSYR-TV in Syracuse shined a spotlight on several failures by the cable company to properly route 911 calls to the appropriate local agencies, instead diverting some 911 calls to a call center in Colorado.

The cable company also had problems with the accuracy of its customer database, which could leave emergency responders with incomplete or missing address information.

After several New York State county 911 managers brought the matter to the attention of the station, it ran a series of reports that have gotten results.

The cable company told the station it has made significant progress in resolving 911 problems, and several of the county 911 managers the station spoke with tentatively agree — noting they’ve seen improvements from the cable operator.

[flv width=”480″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WSYR Syracuse Time Warner Solving 911 Problems 1-10-11.flv[/flv]

WSYR-TV aired two follow-up reports on the Digital Phone-911 problems.  (Warning: Loud Volume) (4 minutes)

Seconds count. If your house was on fire, would you wait a minute or more for Time Warner to handle your 911 call?

Time Warner Cable’s digital phone service may be risking lives of the customers who use it to call 911 for emergency services.

That statement from Madison County, N.Y. 911 Director Paul Hartnett comes after the cable company bungled the handling of an emergency call reporting a house fire in the town of Clayton, Jefferson County, causing delays for emergency responders.

Even worse, the problems could be wider in scope, potentially putting many Time Warner Cable phone customers at risk of a delayed 911 response when seconds count.

At issue is an ongoing upgrade of the cable company’s E-911 database, begun after Time Warner dropped Sprint as their 911 vendor in favor of Intrado.  As the slow upgrade continues, customers dialing 911 could end up having their calls routed to a national 911 call center Intrado runs in Colorado.  The process often takes several minutes from the time the caller dials 911, someone in Colorado answers, and the call is eventually transferred back to the originating county, at which point the caller has to repeat information to a local 911 operator they could not reach directly.

Jefferson County’s 911 Director John Pumber told WSYR-TV news they first noticed the problems about a week ago. “I can see this thing escalating extremely fast, in talking to other cohorts around the state, some of the other centers, it’s becoming more and more of a problem,” he said.

Monday, a 911 call reporting a house fire in the Jefferson County town of Clayton was re-routed to the call center in Colorado. The call was eventually forwarded back to Jefferson County’s 911 center, 44 seconds later. By the time the nature of the emergency was given to the local operator, the house was fully involved in fire.

“If your house is on fire, and especially this individual was calling from his house, so we are leaving him in harms way to get the information and get him help [for] whatever the amount of time it took to get through the call center in Colorado and then through our procedures here,” said Plumber.

“Whether it’s medical, fire, law enforcement related – seconds do make a difference,” said Hartnett. “They’re putting public safety in jeopardy because they’re delaying calls. We’ve had medical calls, and other calls. We’ve dodged a bullet so far.”

This call, recorded by Madison County 911 last week, illustrates the problem:

911: Police communication?

Intrado: I’m calling from Intrado, a call center for Time Warner Cable, I have a subscriber on the line that dialed 911. They’re trying to get through to you, they have a medical emergency.

911: Okay, what’s the address madam?

Intrado: They need an ambulance at 4289 Canal Street.

911: Could I speak with them, or?

Intrado: You sure can, it’s going to be a female with difficulty breathing. Do you want their call back or mine?

911: If I’m going to talk to her, I’ll get it from her.

Intrado: You’re going to talk to her husband, his name is John. John your dispatcher is on the line.

911: Hi Sir, how are you?

Caller: Not good, you need to get a f***ing ambulance here right now!

Time Warner Cable Regional Communications Manager Stephanie Salanger released a statement last week addressing the issue:

“TWC has deployed a state-of-the-art E-911 system that offers several key advantages over more traditional systems, including real-time address validation. Our solution complies fully with FCC rules and industry standards, and it also is based on the same technology the federal government is considering mandating for “Next Generation 911″ services, so we will be well-positioned to comply with any new rules as soon as new standards are implemented.

In the very rare cases where errors in routing 911 calls or when errors in the 911 address database occur-which happens from time to time under any 911 system-calls are routed to the Emergency Call Relay Center managed by TWC’s E911 partner in Colorado, rather than to the default or incorrect 911 answering location. This call center allows TWC to determine the customer’s location and route the call to the appropriate emergency answering center. This has happened only in a extremely small number of cases since TWC began transitioning to its new 911 system. TWC has been continually working with local 911 authorities to ensure they understand the details of TWC’s 911 system and will continue to do so.

TWC has always been and remains committed to providing the highest quality E-911 services for its customers. We will continue to work with local E-911 officials and agencies to ensure they are aware of, understand and are satisfied with TWC’s E-911 system and all of its functionalities.”

[flv width=”480″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WSYR Syracuse TWC phone glitch delays emergency responses 1-4-11.flv[/flv]

WSYR-TV in Syracuse ran two reports over two nights documenting more than 40 recent incidents where Time Warner Cable dropped the ball in properly managing 911 calls from their customers.  Warning: Loud Audio! (8 minutes)

Seymour and Sidell Reiner (Sun-Sentinel)

A Boynton Beach family’s tragic story may give Comcast phone customers second thoughts about whether the cable company’s “digital phone” service is a help or hindrance in an emergency.

Seymour Reiner arrived home last Thanksgiving to find his wife of 62 years dead on the floor from a cut ankle.  But his shock turned to anger when he learned his beloved wife Sidell’s death likely came after Comcast, the company that delivers his phone service, could not quickly manage to provide emergency officials with their home address.

Comcast customers in south Florida who dial “0” from their Comcast phone lines hear a message indicating they should press “0” if the call is a 911 emergency, which Sidell apparently did at least 10 times.

“Help me! Help me, please! Help me! Help me!” Sidell pleaded in disturbing recordings (warning: graphic content) obtained by the Sun Sentinel newspaper.

Sixteen minutes later, when paramedics finally arrived, it was too late.  An hour after that, Seymour arrived home to find the phone laying next to Sidell’s body.

The 81-year old Florida grandmother cut her ankle after dropping some crystal glassware, hitting an artery that caused major bleeding.  She reached for her phone and dialed “0” hoping to reach an operator, but was instead connected with Comcast’s call center.  The cable company eventually transferred the call to Palm Beach County’s 911 emergency services center, but by that time, her anguished pleas for help were barely audible.

The county’s 911 dispatcher asked Comcast’s operator for Reiner’s address, which she could not provide.  Minutes passed as Comcast tried to figure out the address where the call originated from, and an ambulance was eventually dispatched.  Emergency responders arriving at the Sidell’s home left after nobody answered their knocks on the home’s locked front door.  Sidell was unconscious by that time.

Now the Reiner family has filed a lawsuit against Comcast demanding unspecified damages for the cable company’s performance during the tragic events, and also has served notice they may sue the county and fire rescue service for their alleged negligence.

Reiner appeared visibly upset at a press conference held earlier today announcing the lawsuit.  He told several reporters he doesn’t want anyone else to suffer the tragedy he faced when his phone provider couldn’t quickly handle a call for help that ultimately resulted in his wife’s death.

Gary Cohen, the family’s attorney, was livid about Comcast.

“They have her address when it comes to a bill, but when it comes to saving her life, they can’t find her address?” Cohen asked.

The lawsuit led the news across several cities in south Florida, and viewers heard the story first-hand:

“Her phone number, when we put in her phone number, it is showing that there is no information available on that number,” the Comcast operator says.

“Oh, goodness,” the Boynton Beach operator responds.

Cohen accused Comcast of being indifferent about the urgency of Reiner’s desperate pleas for help and said the cable company dropped the ball.

“This was a life-deciding call and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of communication that this is a desperate situation,” Cohen said. “”Nobody took responsibility in saving her — no one went that extra mile and did what they needed to do.”

Cable company and other “Voice Over IP” phone services have been criticized in the past for not passing through important caller-ID information to emergency responders that includes up to date addresses of where the calls originate.  Some traditional phone companies have used past failures by alternative providers to warn consumers not to disconnect landline service because of possible delays in emergency response.  The Reiner family may prove to be a case in point.

Comcast spokeswoman Marta Casas-Celaya said her company does not comment about pending court cases and declined to answer general questions about services provided when a caller dials “0.”  Another statement indicated the company felt “deeply saddened for the Reiner family’s loss.”

[flv width=”640″ height=”500″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/Boynton Beach Tragedy 10-27-10.flv[/flv]

Several Florida TV stations gave this story the lead on their evening newscasts. [WPBF-TV & WPTV-TV West Palm Beach, WFOR-TV Miami, WPEC-TV West Palm Beach]  (9 minutes)