Bell Canada → ARRGH! False 911 Calls

Was just sitting down to supper and there was a knock on the door. Two of our local police officers asking if we had called 911. "No," I replied, "No one has been on the phone since 2:00 PM." Seems they had gotten a 911 call from my number. I gave them the portable phone and they cleared the line. When I assured them that there was no 911 emergency, they asked me to call 611 and have Bell check the line. I did that and got the usual "Emily" and then India. They tried to tell me that the problem was with my equipment (It's not. No new equipment has been added here in several months). I suspect a CO problem with Ident-a-call. When the 911 operator called back, the phone rang on my Ident-a-call fax line. The India drone did say it would be fixed within 48 hours. We'll see.

Anybody else have these kind of problems with false 911 calls?

I haven't had that happen but I have had people calling completely different phone numbers that would ring my phone, and it was several phone numbers that were crossed with my line. This has happened a couple of times.

I've had this happen before.

Bell had to replace the wiring to my house to fix it. Apparently, my copper was spliced together and it became loose, so the rewiring fixed this issue.

Too bad you weren't woken up at 3:45am on your first experience.

Something is happening. My fax line just rang (no one there) Call Display showed "Data Error". Perhaps Bell is actually fixing something. They don't like to get the police PO'd. The officers were still in front of my house after I called 611, so they know that the trouble ticket is in.

This happened to my neighbour 3-4 times. Apparently there was a problem at the splice box down the street or something.

Did you try calling a cell phone from your line? Was the number the same?

I've had my phone line crossed in the past where somebody got my number and I theirs. There's also a special number you can dial that I can't seem to recall right now. It will tell your ph# regardless of privacy settings of your circuit.

I have in the past and it has always been correct (Mrs. DKS did call me back on her Blackberry after I called her on it this week). Good thought, though.

a short on the line can cause it to call 911.

Good point. We had a lot of rain on Saturday night.

Also a quick way to check a crossed line is to call one of those automated number identification numbers. I used to know one for Bell, but I forgot.

However, there is a MCI one that works dandy, and is easy to remember. 1-800-444-4444.

NPA-958-ANAC (2622) is the Bell ANAC.

- Jason

I have see this happen a cpl of times

»www.snopes.com/crime/saf ··· tery.asp
edit:
surprized the responding personal did not mention that to you

Interesting. In this case, both cordless phones are new in the last year and were "on charge" when the phantom call was made.

In one case the people had just got the phone plugged it in and set it on charger, left the apartment I seen them leave and 15 mins later police and fire arrived, so yes even the new ones have called 911
Who knows in your case but it's something that MAY have happened

what phones were they?

DKS STOP CALLING 911.

»crimealerts.net/comeast.htm

Improper use of the 911 Emergency Lines.

This morning one our Communicators received a call on the 911 Emergency Line, when asked what their emergency was the female caller replied she required the local number for H&R Block Tax specialists. Not to be taken aback by this the person was notified that this was the 911 Emergency Line, the female agreed as she did not wish to be late get her taxes in and be fined, it was further explained that by Emergency is it meant a "life or death" situation and she should use Bell 411 next time, the female then informed the communicator that this would have cost her money! A day in the life of our Communicators who are charged with keeping us safe.

Panasonic KX-TG2621. Two of them. And a Uniden wall phone and a Panasonic line handset.

Bell called and left an official looking notice in my mail box (no one told me I should be at home). The technician said my line was checked and no cause for any false 911 call could be found. No charge. I informed the OSPS of that.

You've done everything you can do. If Bell claims that there's nothing wrong with the line, it's in their hands now to deal with it if the issue continues.

I have several friends who are NRPS Emergency Dispatchers. The stories range from absolute sillyness along the lines of the H&R Block story above, to stuff so heart-wrenching that you wonder how any human being could live with themselves after hearing the call.

Latest developments.

Had another false 911 call a week ago. Police came. I called 611. Another official looking note saying there was network trouble.

On Saturday I had two more false 911 calls. But there were more problems. Here is what I posted this morning in the Sympatico Direct forum:

quote:

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I have been having repeated problems with false 911 calls being made from my home number. Bell has done troubleshooting, found some network problems, but the problem persists. We have narrowed it down to the possibility of a fax machine somehow sending 911 signals, but I had arranged with Repair to obtain a knowingly good fax machine from my office and run tests this afternoon (Monday, May 26) to confirm things.

Yesterday, May 26, a note was stuck in my door from Bell Repair saying that the technician has "changed main line to new pair". I was out at the time. When I came home, I discovered my DSL service had been disconnected.

I called 611 again, explained the problem and asked that my DSL service be restored. After talking to several service reps in India, I was repeatedly put on hold. Finally, after 45 minutes, I hung up after a service representative said they were going to connect me with Sympatico Help.

Later in the afternoon I called 310-SURF. Again, after explaining the problem to two CSRs, I was put over to 611 Repair (all again in India). After explaining the problem to two more CSRs, I was finally connected to a Canadian technician who understood the problem immediately and asked my to hang up as she would run some tests.

When she called back, she said that the technician who had switched the main pair had not completed his work as he should have. The F1 parameter was not configured, she said, nor was that pair the line was on connected to DSL at the Central Office. She said she would page the technician immediately and I should have DSL service by last night or this morning at the latest.

At about 7:30 AM I discovered I had DSL service, but also found that I have been placed on a much, much slower and lower speed profile.

My previous profile was 5056/800 fastpath with actual speed test speeds of 4400/600 and a ping of less than 40ms. I have been on this speed profile for several years without any difficulty.

My current speed test result is 1504/283 with a ping of +100 ms. This suggests I have been placed on the 1.5 meg profile of 1728/384 interleaved. All speed tests have been done at speedtest.net from Chicago.

This is simply not acceptable. I have had the fastest profile available in my area for several years. Bell's arbitrary, uninformed and completely inappropriate action has reduced my level of service to an unacceptable level. I want my old profile back as quickly as possible. Again all this was done before we had concluded our tests and with unacceptable results, from my perspective, as a customer.

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Within an hour of posting Thesaxman had responded and had put my old profile back in place. I also received three calls from Bell saying that my Sympatico was back and that the problem had been resolved. I was able to speak to a technician on the third call who told me that when I dial 611 again, to avoid India, choose the French option. I was also given a number to call if I continue to have 911 problems.

All fixed. I just tested the fax line and it's fine. No false 911 call and the speed is back. Thanks to the Bell folks who finally got this resolved.

And yet you continue to pay them money for internet... Send a message with your wallet, switch!

BTW I wasnt aware that 611 is in india now too... Bell is REALLY cutting corners... How the f**k is a "tech" in india supposed to understand the local infrastructure in Canada?

Bell_Sylvain does do good work and quickly too.

You really don't know what you are talking about I have an unlimited internet account. I have the HSLD package, which gives me an outrageous number of LD minutes. I have zero incentive to switch. This is a 911 repair issue. The collateral damage was to DSL. And yes. 611 is now in India.

I'm happy to hear that it's resolved and also that you didn't have the same experience that I did when a phantom 911 call was made from my number. As much as I tried to convince the officers that no call was made from my phone they would not leave until they had searched my house!!!

I guess that it must have been your collar.

Wha? I hope you rightfully requested that they have a warrant signed by a JP before you let them "search" your home! It's your right, and the burden of proof is on them, not you.

The police know who I am. For many reasons.

LOL!!!

Actually, no. I have nothing to hide and just wanted to go back to bed (3:45 AM). IMO, asking for a warrant would have simply prolonged the issue and served no useful purpose. It was only a superficial "search"; look in each room and open the closet (in which there are no skeletons) doors.

You'd be surprised. I was in a similar situation but still refused the search. They got lippy, at which point I requested that they send their sergeant and closed the door in their face. They sat in the driveway in their car for about an hour while I went back inside and went about my day. A few hours later a supervisor showed up and apologized for the conduct of the officers.

You had every right to close the door in their face and go back to bed if they gave you any lip about requesting a warrant, and remember this - if they had legal grounds to search your home, they would have already come with a warrant.

When they're responding to a 911 call, there isn't time to get a warrant. Remember the scenario ... you could be a home invader and the real residents are bound inside.