A glitch in the UK’s 999 network resulted in no callers getting through for nearly 80 minutes and led to more than 9,000 callers being unable to access emergency services by phone, according to a government report.
The government said a “complex software issue” affected BT’s 999 platform on Sunday 25 June last year, at first resulting in a “significant” proportion of calls disconnecting between 6.24am and 7.31am.
The problem escalated as BT was unable to activate its backup system, resulting in no callers getting through to 999 at all for an hour and 19 minutes, until 8.50am.
“During this period, all citizens dialling 999 would have failed to connect to BT’s 999 platform,” said the official review of the incident.
The disruption continued until just before 5pm because the backup system, once BT had launched it successfully, had reduced functionality compared with the main system.
The government said a total of 9,641 unique callers were unable to access the emergency services – including police, ambulance, fire and rescue and the coastguard – via 999 or 112 during the incident, while “many more were delayed or disrupted”.
The review by the Cabinet Office and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said that once the backup system was operating there were further delays because call handlers had to process some information manually, such as location.
The government will introduce new safeguards after the incident, including a new notification system between BT, the emergency services and the government to coordinate a response to any further 999 service disruptions. If there is a similar incident, the government will issue advice to the public on how to reach the emergency services.
Michelle Donelan, the secretary of state for science, innovation and technology, said: “The incident in June of last year marked the first significant disruption to the 999 system in nearly 90 years. We are determined to prevent history from repeating itself, with public safety being absolutely paramount.
“This is why, following a thorough review of the incident, we are working with BT to establish enhanced resilience measures, ensuring the UK is always prepared to effectively address major emergencies.”
