A dispatcher notes that when phones went down in their dispatch center the air carrier's aircraft co...

Narrative:

At approximately XA00 our phone system went down in the entire building. Hence we had no telesis either. Our backup communications with the flts wouldn't work either. They were out for approximately 2 hours and then worked on a limited basis intermittently several hours afterwards. While we were on the backup system we were cutting off callers since the conference; pickup and xfer features were not working. The speed dials didn't work either; so if you needed to use the telesis you had to look up and then enter the number of the station manually. I ACARS'ed all my flts and messaged all my stations telling them of the outage and told them to contact me via ACARS. Since several stations don't have ACARS receivers I provided my cell phone number for emergency. The manager said his phone worked; but it ended up being intermittent. I would imagine some aircraft didn't have working ACARS system too. Seems to me each department in operations should have an emergency cell phone number in situations like this. I am not sure if we were able to fully comply with far 121.199. If we were to evacuate/evacuation to our backup facility; who would flight follow our flts while we were en route? Just seems like something we might want to plan a backup for.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A DISPATCHER NOTES THAT WHEN PHONES WENT DOWN IN THEIR DISPATCH CTR THE ACR'S ACFT COULD NOT BE FOLLOWED. BACKUP COM SHOULD BE PROVIDED.

Narrative: AT APPROX XA00 OUR PHONE SYS WENT DOWN IN THE ENTIRE BUILDING. HENCE WE HAD NO TELESIS EITHER. OUR BACKUP COMS WITH THE FLTS WOULDN'T WORK EITHER. THEY WERE OUT FOR APPROX 2 HRS AND THEN WORKED ON A LIMITED BASIS INTERMITTENTLY SEVERAL HRS AFTERWARDS. WHILE WE WERE ON THE BACKUP SYS WE WERE CUTTING OFF CALLERS SINCE THE CONFERENCE; PICKUP AND XFER FEATURES WERE NOT WORKING. THE SPD DIALS DIDN'T WORK EITHER; SO IF YOU NEEDED TO USE THE TELESIS YOU HAD TO LOOK UP AND THEN ENTER THE NUMBER OF THE STATION MANUALLY. I ACARS'ED ALL MY FLTS AND MESSAGED ALL MY STATIONS TELLING THEM OF THE OUTAGE AND TOLD THEM TO CONTACT ME VIA ACARS. SINCE SEVERAL STATIONS DON'T HAVE ACARS RECEIVERS I PROVIDED MY CELL PHONE NUMBER FOR EMER. THE MGR SAID HIS PHONE WORKED; BUT IT ENDED UP BEING INTERMITTENT. I WOULD IMAGINE SOME ACFT DIDN'T HAVE WORKING ACARS SYS TOO. SEEMS TO ME EACH DEPT IN OPS SHOULD HAVE AN EMER CELL PHONE NUMBER IN SITUATIONS LIKE THIS. I AM NOT SURE IF WE WERE ABLE TO FULLY COMPLY WITH FAR 121.199. IF WE WERE TO EVAC TO OUR BACKUP FACILITY; WHO WOULD FLT FOLLOW OUR FLTS WHILE WE WERE ENRTE? JUST SEEMS LIKE SOMETHING WE MIGHT WANT TO PLAN A BACKUP FOR.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of January 2009 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	714473
Time
Date	200610
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	airport : zzz.airport
State Reference	US
Altitude	agl single value : 0
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	other personnel
Qualification	flight attendant : currently qualified
ASRS Report	714473
Events
Anomaly	non adherence : far other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other other : 1
Resolutory Action	none taken : unable
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Company
Primary Problem	Company

A dispatcher notes that when phones went down in their dispatch center the air carrier's aircraft could not be followed. Backup communication should be provided.