Massachusetts was among several states experiencing a 911 outage on Dec. 28. (File photograph)
Haverhill is among the Massachusetts communities experiencing lingering problems with the 911 alert system, leading the department to proactively release alternate ways to report an emergency on Friday afternoon.
Callers who receive a busy signal or automated message that all circuits are busy are asked to dial 978-556-0204 in the City of Haverhill only. This number is only for when 911 is not operational, police said. The non-emergency number to reach the Bailey Boulevard police station is 978-373-1212. To reach the fire department for non-emergencies, dial 978-373-3833.
Earlier on Friday, State Police said a nationwide outage impacting wireless callers using the CenturyLink network was causing outages across Massachusetts, among other states.