CAUSE OF ONE-HOUR JACKSON TELEPHONE DISRUPTION UNKNOWN

JACKSON -- Cheri Stoffregen didn't mind the hour of silence Wednesday morning at Jackson City Hall. In fact, she enjoyed it.

As a customer service representative, Stoffregen answers three telephone lines in the City Hall offices. But when Southwestern Bell Telephone fiber optic lines were cut Wednesday around 11 a.m., she didn't receive any calls for at least an hour.

"It was totally dead silence," she said. "The police came down and asked me to make a call because 911 was down, but I couldn't get through." Officers with the Jackson Police Department first learned about the problem when phone lines they were using went dead.

Southwestern Bell Telephone officials said the severed lines caused a slow dial tone but didn't isolate service.

The cause of the disruption was not known. Lines were reconnected around 12:15 p.m.

Although most customers were unaware of the disruption, emergency personnel knew there was a problem. For about an hour, all 911 calls were rerouted to a seven-digit number at the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department in Jackson.

Although no one can be certain any 911 calls were missed, there is always that possibility, said Mark Hasheider, a member of the 911 advisory board and a Cape Girardeau Fire Department.

When the system went down Wednesday morning, two things happened to Enhanced 911 service: calls were automatically rerouted and some computer information was unavailable.

"We go to a seven-digit number routed to the sheriff's department, and in the city we lost information like addresses," Hasheider said.

Customers from Jackson to Benton couldn't make or receive calls while the lines were out of service. Service to Cape Girardeau residents was not disrupted.

When outside calls were answered at the Cape Girardeau County collector's office, no one could be heard. And calls made from the office were interrupted with a message from the operator.

Calls made to the Scott County clerk's office and sheriff's department were answered Wednesday afternoon and employees said the phones had been working all day.