BRMC Phone Outtage

Last night at 10:20 p.m. external phone lines at Bluffton Regional Medical Center went down. Internal communication, the ability for the hospital to communicate with Bluffton Police Department, Wells County Sheriff's Department and Wells County EMS and 9-1-1 emergency services were not affected.
You can read my complete story in today's News-Banner.

I thought I would take this opportunity to share a little story about my prior dealings with AT&T.

We had just purchased a house in Indianapolis, Spring 2005. That was the year the tornadoes swung through the city. Right through our neighborhood, right next to our house. It was a miracle our house was not destroyed.
The storm did tear every single telephone and utility line off our house and off the adjacent utility poles however.
So I called AT&T to request repairs. That conversation went something like this:

"Hi, a tornado ripped all the lines off our home and we'll need someone to come restore service," I told the operator, via cell phone.
"Thank you, sir. Are you calling from your house?" he asked.
"Um, no. The tornado stripped all the wires down. There are no telecommunciation or power lines left," I answered.
"Have you tried unplugging your phone from the wall jack and replugging it in?" he said.
I was quiet for a moment, contemplating which country this fellow was from, seeing as how he clearly didn't understand English.
"Um, no. That would be pretty pointless because there are no power lines left in our neighborhood," I said, very slowly.
"Sir, I can't help you if you don't let me," he said. "I need to determine if
the problem is inside your home or with our equipment..."
I cut him off.
"Oh, well, I can you the problem--a TORNADO went through the neighborhood and stripped down all the power lines." I walked outside, as if he could see the devastation for himself.
"I am standing in my backyard, looking at my house and there are no power lines going to it any more. The TORNADO took them all down," I said.
Silence. Then, "Sir, if you will not help me determine the cause of the problem I
cannot determine what sort of assistance you need. If you could just try plugging in your phone.."
"But there are no lines. Are you listening to me? I could plug in my phone all day long, but it won't make any difference. There are no external lines left!"
Ok, so I was shouting at that moment. What would you have done?
"Sir, please calm down," he said tersely.
I did. I walked back inside my dark house and grabbed the phone cord. I jammed it into the socket.
"There, I am plugging it in right now," I said, sounding more like a raving maniac with each passing second. "In and out, in and out, in and out!
Satisfied?"
Very calmly he asked, "Is your phone working now?"
"No!" I screamed. "The phone is not working now. It will not work now because THERE ARE NO LINES LEFT ON MY HOUSE BECAUSE OF THE TORNADO!"
Silence.
"Sir, if you do not calm down I will be forced to disconnect this call," he said, very slow and calm.
I went silent.
"Fine. I am being calm. I am plugging the phone in and out and trying to use it, It does not work. What next?"
Silence. I hear him typing something on a keyboard. Then, "How many telephone jacks do you have in your home?"
I counted them real quick. Four.
"I have four telephone jacks," I said, thinking I was finally getting somewhere.
"Ok," he said, calm as a cucumber. "Can I get you to try plugging your telephone into each of those jacks?"
Needless to say, when I finished saying what I had to say, it was months before we had a working telephone...