Grand Traverse County is experiencing a phone service disruption that began July 31 at 11:36 a.m. The outage is affecting inbound calls to county offices but has not impacted emergency dispatch or 911 services.
The disruption originated with Peninsula Fiber Network, the county’s telephone provider and is not the result of a failure within county systems. The issue stems from an interconnect switch failure at a Verizon facility in Minnesota that is preventing inbound calls from connecting to the county’s network.
The outage prevents Verizon from successfully handing off inbound calls to the local provider’s network. Callers using Verizon mobile phones may encounter dropped calls, failed connections or a fast-busy signal when trying to reach county departments. Additionally, any toll-free numbers managed by Peninsula Fiber Network are currently unreachable.
Local calls and calls placed from non-Verizon mobile carriers or landlines remain largely unaffected. Residents are encouraged to use alternative carriers to place calls to county offices whenever possible. Emergency dispatch services are not impacted by this disruption and officials say those in need of immediate assistance should continue to dial 911.
Departments can be reached directly via email through a directory available on the county’s official website. Many county services, forms and requests can also be submitted through online portals on the site.
The county is also providing updates through its social media pages for real-time announcements. Time-sensitive matters can be addressed in person by visiting the applicable county office during regular business hours. Peninsula Fiber Network confirmed that its crews are actively working to restore full connectivity.