Replacing PSTN with VoIP wise? Was Re: Phone networks struggle in Hurricane Katrina's wake

Fri Sep 2 15:11:37 UTC 2005

On Thu, Sep 01, 2005 at 09:41:40AM -0700, jc dill wrote:

> It is sometimes the case in disasters that people from inside can call 
> out but that people from outside can't call in because the circuits into 
> the disaster area become overloaded.  This would hold true especially in 
>  the case where many people in the disaster area have no access to 
> working phones, so those with working phones can easily get a free 
> outbound circuit - meanwhile frantic friends and family clog up the 
> incoming circuits trying to reach phones that are out of service or 
> people who simply aren't near the phone and who can't answer but those 
> calls still tie up circuits each time they are attempted.

It could also be deliberate; one comment I've heard in relation to
emergency communications is that one message out can stop eight messages
back in. If someone inside the affected area can speak to a
friend/family member to say that they're ok, and they're in shelter X in
town Y, that friend/family member can/will tell the others others
concerned about the disaster victim this info, freeing up communication
resources into the affected area. Prioritizing outgoing calls over
incoming calls might help with this.

Bob