Verizon: Tech problem led to phone interruption
BY AMY ROSEN Staff Writer

MANALAPAN - A technical glitch is believed to have caused a recent unplanned interruption in service to the Manalapan Police Department's telephone lines.

On May 14, service to telephone lines used for incoming and outgoing emergency and general calls to and from the Manalapan Police Department was cut off for more than three hours without any advance notice. Service was out from about 11 p.m. May 14 to 2 a.m. May 15.

Manalapan police officers who were on duty that evening found out the phone lines were down when they received radio contact from the Freehold Township Police Department informing them that a Manalapan resident called (Freehold Township) when they could not get through to the Manalapan police. The person was concerned about a loved one and wanted police to check on that individual.

When the Manalapan police shift supervisor contacted Verizon employees to rectify the situation that evening, he was told that the interruption in service was due to a billing issue.

That turned out not to be the case.

After investigating what occurred, Verizon spokesman Rich Young said theManalapan police shift supervisor was given incorrect information when he contacted Verizon on May 14.

"There was not a billing issue," Young said. "The department had an old account with Verizon that is now closed.When our representative looked at the account information, our data base showed the account was in fact not in service but may have incorrectly said the account was closed for nonpayment."

At the Township Committee meeting on May 28, Mayor Michelle Roth said there was no billing problem with the telephone company.

"We pay our bills directly to Verizon and have never been late," the mayor said. "The township confirmed today (May 28) with Verizon that there are no outstanding bills and that the account is current. We have made our payments every month and the May 2008 invoice from Verizon was received by the township on May 12 and authorized for payment (by the township committee) on May 28."

Roth said that 16-day turnaround indicates how efficiently the township is able to pay its bills.

After the incident occurred on May 14, Manalapan Police Chief Stuart Brown filed a complaint against Verizon with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities for shutting off the phone service without any prior warning.

"I find the practice of shutting off the phone service to a 24-hour public law enforcement agency that is responsible for providing immediate response to public emergencies reprehensible," Brown said in his complaint.

"I want to know why our phones were shut off and who did it," he later added.

According to Young, Verizon workers were doing a facility upgrade in the area during the same time that the telephone service was interrupted.

"All of our testing indicates that the problem was related to that," Young said. "Since then we've met with the police department and sent technicians to check it out. Everything is fully operational and 911 service was never affected and is still OK."

Young said Verizon believes the disruption was an isolated problem due to a cable being upgraded in the area. He said such occurrences happen infrequently, if at all.

"Verizon is always mindful of its customers," said Young. "If we know a cable is being replaced we will notify customers in advance. In this case they should have been notified in advance and they weren't. For that we're sorry."