911 outages reported nationwide

Law enforcement agencies across the country reported 911 outages Monday night, with many being restored in about an hour.

After 7 p.m. Eastern time, several law enforcement agencies across Minnesota, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Nevada said their 911 systems were not functional. Most of the agencies released updates saying the system was restored by about 8:15 p.m. EDT.

It was not immediately clear if the outages were related to a Microsoft system issue also reported Monday, NBC New York noted. Microsoft’s status page for its cloud services said “Any user may experience access problems for Microsoft 365 services.”

A Microsoft spokesperson told The Hill in a statement Tuesday, “We’ve seen no indication that the multi-state 911 outage was a result of yesterday’s Azure service interruption.”

On Monday, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Emergency Communications Board tweeted it was in contact with CenturyLink, a telecommunications company, to diagnose the cause of the multi-state outage. The post included a link to 24-hour, 10-digit nonemergency numbers for each county. 

The board tweeted at 9:45 p.m. EDT that the state’s 911 service was restored, adding CenturyLink will determine the outage timeline and how many calls were affected. 

ECN is in contact with CenturyLink to determine the cause of the multi-state 911 outage affecting MN. If you have an emergency and cannot get through to 911, call the 24-hour, 10 digit non-emergency number. Find them here: https://t.co/HjYd0l1A5g. Please do not test the system. pic.twitter.com/pbU4WSLQMb

— Minnesota ECN (@MnDPS_ECN) September 29, 2020

⚠️8:45 P.M. UPDATE⚠️ECN confirms 911 service in MN (including Text-to-911) is restored following a multi-state outage. CenturyLink will determine the disruption’s timeline & how many calls were impacted in MN. We will provide that information when we receive it from CenturyLink.

— Minnesota ECN (@MnDPS_ECN) September 29, 2020

The Minneapolis Police Department also posted the 911 systems were “not operational nationwide” before tweeting an update almost two hours later. 

UPDATE: The 911 system is back up and working again. The nationwide outage has been fixed. https://t.co/WXaLXVcUdz

— Minneapolis Police (@MinneapolisPD) September 29, 2020

Delaware State Police had announced issues with 911 service statewide, saying those who called would be met with a busy signal. An update from the agency indicated the outage had ended. 

Other police agencies, including in Tucson, Ariz., Washoe County, Nev., and Delaware County, Pa., all reported 911 outages before updating an hour or two later that the system was functioning again.

911 services are fully operational again. Please disregard our initial tweet. If you are in need of emergency services, call 911. https://t.co/US40GgC19Z

— Tucson Police Dept (@Tucson_Police) September 29, 2020

5:56 p.m. UPDATE: 911 systems are restored

— Washoe Sheriff (@WashoeSheriff) September 29, 2020

*** IMPORTANT MESSAGE *** The Delaware County 911 phone is system IS BACK UP AND RUNNING! Call 911 for any emergencies.

— Upper Darby Police (@UDPolice) September 29, 2020

Updated: Sept. 29 at 2:06 p.m.