The Delaware County 9-1-1 Center has been notified by Wide Open West (WOW) that a temporary fix is in place for voice-over-Internet phone users who had been experiencing audio difficulties when dialing 9-1-1.

“We have been in touch with Wide Open West since the problem was first identified yesterday evening,” said Patrick Brandt, the County’s Emergency Communications Director, “and, at this point, they have identified the source of the problem and a fix is in place.”

Brandt said thee County 9-1-1 Center has also independently and successfully tested the capability of a WOW caller to contact the Center, according to a news release.

“We look forward to hearing soon that the fix is permanent,” Brandt said.

The problem was identified yesterday (Thursday) when an Orange Township resident tried placing test calls to the 9-1-1 Center because he had been having problems with his phone service and, because of the ill health of a family member, wanted to be certain that he could call 9-1-1 in the event of a real emergency. His calls connected to a 9-1-1 dispatcher, but the dispatcher could not hear the caller. The problem was determined to be on the WOW network side.

Brandt explained that 9-1-1 connection testing is allowed and can be set up with the Center’s staff by calling their administrative line at 740-833-2160 first to schedule a time for the test. And if a voice-over-Internet user has any concern about the ability to connect a 9-1-1 call, the user should dial the Center’s 10-digit number: 740-368-1911, or use a cell phone.