Emergency Call Answering Service: Service outage
From Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications
Published on
Last updated on
The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications was notified this morning by BT Communications Ireland Ltd (BTCIL) that the Emergency Call Answering Service was unable to handle emergency calls between 1am and 2.15am the morning of Tuesday, 28 June.
BTCIL, which has a contract with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications to deliver the Emergency Call Answering Service, has informed the department that this outage affected approximately 227 callers and that all callers affected by the outage were subsequently followed up with by An Garda Síochána.
Minister Ossian Smyth, who has been briefed on the outage, said the department has now sought a detailed and comprehensive report from BTCIL on the incident.
While the immediate priority is on ensuring that there is no risk of a similar occurrence in the future, Minister Smyth said that the department will establish the precise circumstances that gave rise to the service outage and then, in consultation with its legal advisers, determine the consequences under the contract.
ENDS
The Emergency Call Answering Service (ECAS) is responsible for answering all 112 and 999 calls and texts, providing a vital link between the caller and the Emergency Services (Garda, Fire, Ambulance or Coast Guard and Air Traffic Control for emergencies involving aircraft).
The legal basis for the Emergency Call Answering Service (ECAS) is set out in the Communications Regulation (Amendment) Act 2007, which provides for the establishment and operation of the ECAS and enabled the Minister to enter into a contract with an entity to provide the service. BT Communications Ireland Limited (BTCIL) currently holds the contract to operate the service.
The ECAS contract was signed in February 2018 with BTCIL following a competitive procurement process. The contract is for a period of seven years effective from November 2018 and due to expire in November 2025.
The contract provides a comprehensive set of Key Performance Indicators centred on the availability and quality of the service and BT’s performance against these metrics is closely monitored by the department, including answering 98% of calls in less than 1.3 seconds.
ECAS handled over 2.3 million calls in 2021.