State Officials Identify Cause Of 911 Phone Service Outage

Published on April 18, 2024

The South Dakota Department of Safety released the following information about the 911 outage on Wednesday, April 17:

South Dakota’s 9-1-1 system is fully operational following an interruption in service that occurred in several states, including South Dakota. The interruption began at approximately 8 p.m. CST Wednesday evening. The State 9-1-1 Coordinator was in constant and extensive communication with the state’s 9-1-1 service vendor, Lumen, and the state’s 28 9-1-1 dispatch centers. Service was restored by 11 p.m. CST.

The state’s text to 9-1-1 service was not impacted. Although some calls may not have gone through, the system allows dispatch centers to identify the phone number of callers and return those calls. The 9-1-1 system is fully operational and ready to respond promptly to any emergent situation.

The State 9-1-1 Coordinator remains in communication with Lumen to isolate the cause but assures the public of the redundancy in the system. The safety of South Dakotans remains our top priority.

Metro Communications uses the statewide system and was one of the agencies affected by this outage.