On the heels of Hurricane Ian, Florida is once again bracing for
tropical weather, and Verizon is ready to keep the community and
first responders in Florida connected. Teams of Verizon engineers,
completing recovery work from Hurricane Ian, are already deployed
throughout the sunshine state. They have completed maintenance and
upgrades on assets that were used extensively throughout the past
two months, and have supplemented that fleet of equipment with
other mobile assets from other parts of the country. Mobile
equipment has been pre-staged, fueling teams are on standby and
operations teams have completed pre-incident preparations. Verizon
Frontline and the Verizon Frontline Crisis Response Team also stand
ready to provide first responders on the front lines
of response efforts with the mission-critical communications
support they need.
“We are here for Florida,” said Kyle Malady, EVP and President,
Global Networks and Technology. “We know the community is still
reeling from Hurricane Ian and the threat of more critical weather
is not the news anyone wants to hear. But Verizon will be here for
Florida through this storm season and through the recovery time to
come. We are absolutely committed to providing
Floridians the reliability and advanced technology they have come
to expect from Verizon before, during and after the storms.”
Verizon’s networks are prepared to keep people
connected
Recognized repeatedly for reliability, Verizon’s extreme network
is designed to withstand extreme weather and delivers superior
service by including redundancy on critical paths and components to
avoid a potential failure of a network
component significantly affecting customers. The use of
battery and generator backup systems in critical locations such as
macro cell sites, switch locations and network operations centers
also serves to minimize the risk of disruption if commercial power
is lost. 100% of Verizon macro cell sites have backup battery power
and 78% have backup generators nationally, and that number is
higher in hurricane-prone areas like Florida. Verizon engineers
have been preparing for the coming storm by ensuring fuel levels
are high on all generators at cell sites, testing battery back-ups
at network facilities, positioning extra equipment in case
additional capacity is needed, and prepping emergency crews to
respond quickly to any network issue. These are just a few of the
reasons Verizon’s network is the network America relies on, in good
times and bad.
In case emergency network recovery becomes necessary after the
storm makes landfall, Verizon is prepared to respond quickly.
Verizon maintains a fleet of over 500 portable assets, including
fully functional, generator-powered cells sites that can replace or
enhance network coverage and capacity in a given area as well as
drones and a fixed wing aircraft that can provide service from the
sky above. Additionally, Verizon boasts an industry-leading 150
satellite based portable network assets that can be used in case
fiber connection is lost due to loss of commercial power or
physical damage. Those assets include mid-Earth orbit and
geosynchronous assets. All of those mobile assets are complemented
by nearly a thousand portable generators and a comprehensive
refueling program.
Are you ready for the storm?
Verizon’s retail team stands ready to assist customers and
ensure they have the right devices, accessories and connectivity
they’ll need to weather the storm. And convenient options like
locker, curbside and in store pickup provide quick ways to get what
customers need and get out.
In addition to the right tech, customers will want to take steps
to ensure their families are prepared for the season as well. When
a storm is forecast:
Keep devices dry: While many phones today are some degree of
water resistant, extra care could be needed to ensure phones,
tablets, batteries, chargers and other equipment remain dry and
accessible. Plastic zipper storage bags help shield devices, and
there are weatherproof phones, phone cases and other protective
accessories available.
Keep devices fully charged: Make sure devices are ready by
keeping phone and tablet batteries fully charged in case commercial
power goes out.
Get some backup: When power is out for an extended period of
time, portable battery packs can be a game-changer to remain
connected. Don’t forget car chargers as well in case evacuation is
necessary.
Create a list: Store emergency numbers in phones for easy access
if needed.
Be prepared for loss: Take pictures of valuables and other
important belongings for possible insurance claims. And make sure
they’re uploaded to the cloud as a backup.
Review checklists: Review the hurricane preparedness checklist,
power outage checklist and other resources from the American Red
Cross.
Download useful apps: There are plenty of free weather, news,
and safety-related apps available for download.
Business continuity is critical
The need for a secure, stable connection for business continuity
is never more apparent than during severe weather events and other
emergencies. This is especially important with today’s increasingly
common hybrid-work environments, in which highly distributed and
mobile workforces are reliant on remote collaboration and digital
networking tools to do business across wide and local areas
simultaneously.
The Verizon Business portfolio of solutions provides continuity
of service for customers, from SD-WAN, to advanced security tools,
to cloud and edge applications and the BlueJeans by Verizon video
collaboration platform, fleet management and tracking through
Verizon Connect, fixed-wireless Internet for primary or backup
connectivity. Verizon’s network-as-a-service strategy gives
customers the flexibility to scale services as they require so that
they’re ready for anything.
As businesses launch their in-office and at-home hybrid
operations, now is a great time to assess readiness plans ahead of
storm season. Suggested steps for businesses and government
organizations include:
- Make sure contact information for all employees is updated and
readily available, including at-home information for remote workers
and branch information for satellite offices.
- Stress-test primary and backup networks and shore up any weak
areas
- Make copies of insurance documents, review insurance coverages
and update as appropriate.
- Ensure employees working from home have documented all
corporate equipment being used to work from home in case of damage
or loss.
- Ensure backup plans are in place to shift work in case
work-from-home employees in a storm-impacted area have to evacuate
their home or their home loses commercial power.
Verizon Frontline is ready to support first
responders
The Verizon Frontline Crisis Response Team stands ready to
deploy in support of public safety agencies nationwide — at no cost
to the agency — to ensure they have the mission-critical
communications support they need when responding to severe
weather and other crisis events. In 2021, the team deployed 84
times, to 13 states, in support of first responders on the front
lines of hurricane response efforts.
Composed of former first responders and military veterans, the
Verizon Frontline Crisis Response Team provides on-demand,
emergency assistance during crisis situations to public safety
agencies and emergency responders. The team is available 24/7 to
deliver Verizon Frontline technologies including portable cell
sites, drones, charging stations, WiFi hotspots, and other Verizon
Frontline devices and solutions that enable communications and/or
boost network performance.
Verizon Frontline is the advanced network and technology built
for first responders – developed over nearly three decades of
partnership with public safety officials and agencies on the front
lines – to meet their unique and evolving needs.
After an emergency, call before you dig
Debris clean up and property repair are important tasks after a
storm. Before beginning to clean up and make repairs, call 811 or
visit call811.com to determine where fiber or other cables are
buried. Contacting 811 before any digging project, large or small,
is the easiest step toward reducing the chance of damaging
underground fiber and keeping customers and first responders
connected in critical moments. Fiber is the invisible footprint
that moves data throughout Verizon’s network across the country and
around the world. Verizon owns and operates over 1 million miles of
fiber; that’s enough to wrap around Earth 40 times. Cutting those
cables when digging can result in customers losing service and data
connections being lost. So before storm clean up begins, call
811.
**Editor’s Note: To access
images and b-roll of past storms, Verizon equipment, recovery
efforts and more, please visit Verizon’s Emergency Resource Hub
at
https://www.verizon.com/about/news/emergency-resource-center
Media contact: Karen
Schulz864.561.1527Karen.Schulz@verizon.com
Andrew
Testa973.224.2081Andrew.Testa@Verizon.com
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