County government's aging phone system is on the fritz today.
The trouble started yesterday afternoon and may last through the weekend.
Calls to the main county building may not get through while the county's IT personnel and consultants try to figure out exactly what is causing the infrastructure to fail.
The phone problems have caused a few difficulties for emergency dispatchers, but the 9-1-1 system still works.
"We want our citizens to know our 9-1-1 system is still functioning," said County Manager Jay Gsell. "The Sheriff's Office is still out there and still able to take calls."
Getting calls through to other county departments, however, may be more difficult.
Gsell has no idea when the problem will be identified and fixed.
The phone system failure highlights the need for the county to upgrade its system.
On June 23, the County Legislature approved a $241,000 expenditure to replace lines and phone equipment at County Building #2 and other county buildings.
The current system is seven to 10 years old.
"That doesn't seem like a lot of time, but in today's communications environment, that's ancient," Gsell said.
