Union County 911 Outage Temporarily Reroutes Calls, Service Restored

Union County Emergency Services said a 911 systems outage on Thursday, Feb. 26, forced emergency calls from Union County and “other counties” to be rerouted through alternate 911 dispatch centers while technicians worked to fix the problem, and the county posted an update at 4:05 p.m. stating all 911 service issues had been resolved.

According to Union County Emergency Management, the temporary rerouting increased pressure on partner centers: “Call volumes at receiving centers are higher than normal.” The county warned that dispatchers handling rerouted calls “may need to ask additional verification questions” and that “call processing times may be slightly longer than usual.”

Union County issued direct guidance to callers during the outage: “Please do not hang up if your call takes longer to be answered. Your call will be handled as quickly as possible, and emergency services are still responding,” the announcement said. That message was repeated in county communications as technicians worked on the problem.

County communications stressed the technical response: “Technicians are actively working to resolve the issue, and service is expected to be restored as soon as possible,” Union County Emergency Management wrote, adding, “We appreciate your patience and understanding while this situation is being addressed. Updates will be provided as they become available.”

Union County Emergency Services’ advisory included a timestamped notice that the department “announced at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 26, there was a 911 outage that is affecting calls from Union and other counties.” The county did not name which other counties were affected in its public notices, nor did the advisory identify the alternate dispatch centers receiving rerouted traffic.

By midafternoon the county confirmed restoration. UNION COUNTY – UPDATE: 4:05 PM: “According to Union County, all 911 service issues have been resolved,” the county reported in its update, restoring normal routing after technicians completed work.

Public statements and the update did not include a technical cause for the outage, the number of calls affected, or metrics on call-answer times. Union County Emergency Management said only that it would provide further updates as they become available. The department’s repeated instruction for callers was to remain on the line if an answer takes longer than usual and to expect emergency services remain active while systems were being repaired.