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Mass. State Police: Please, don’t call 911 to see if it still works during the cell outages

Many 911 centers around Massachusetts have been swamped with test calls this morning amid widespread cellular outages.

By Abby Patkin

February 22, 2024

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Amid nationwide cellular outages for countless AT&T customers, Massachusetts State Police are urging callers not to dial 911 just to see if emergency calls still go through. 

Many 911 centers around Massachusetts have been flooded with test calls following this morning’s service disruptions, state police said in a statement shortly after 9 a.m. 

“Please do not do this,” the agency urged. “If you can successfully place a non-emergency call to another number via your cell service then your 911 service will also work.”

In another post on X, formerly Twitter, state police said they are in contact with AT&T and are monitoring the outage. 

“Some carriers have coverage, but if you need to call 911 and cannot do so, use a landline if possible until [the] situation is resolved,” state police advised.

For its part, AT&T said it is working urgently to address the outage and encouraged customers to use Wi-Fi calling until service is back, according to a statement obtained by The Boston Globe. (And in case you need it, Wi-Fi calling instructions for Apple and Android devices are available online.)