Communicating in an emergency

The last time a tornado got near Canton, I tried to phone my kids on a cell phone. All the circuits were busy with other people trying to phone their kids.

I texted the kids on my cell phone. Despite circuits being busy, the texts went through in a couple minutes. Don’t know how to text? Ask a kid to teach you. It could save your life.

I thought – what if the tornado had taken down the electrical grid? If it went down, the cell phone towers would be running on batteries. When they went dead, my cell phone would be useless.

The U.S. Government could also disable the cell phone towers and shut off all cell phone service if they thought terrorists were involved in an emergency. If the cell phones go dead, what else is available?

Your house phone, connected by copper wire to a telephone switching station, would probably work. If the power went off completely, the exchange has batteries to keep it running for several hours. There may also be diesel generators to keep the batteries charged.

What if the landline phones fail? Another good, but expensive, option is the satellite phone. Powered by batteries and connected by a radio link through a satellite, satellite phones are unaffected by local catastrophes.

I have a satellite internet service. I can power it with a small generator at home, and I could have continued internet service during an emergency. Using a “Voice Over Internet Protocol” (VOIP) phone connected through the internet, I could have telephone service, too. A VOIP phone can easily be connected to your internet. To look at your options, search “VOIP Phone” on your browser.

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