Collinsville Residential Growth Brings Telephone Problems

Wednesday, February 2nd 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Growth is good for cities, but Collinsville is experiencing some serious growing pains. The cityâ€™s phone system is bursting at the seams due to the residential growth in the area. The problem even extends to the police and fire departments telephone lines. The News on Six went to the community located just north of Tulsa on Wednesday find out what's being done to reconnect the city.

Christine Williams has two children and can't afford to be without a phone in case of an emergency. "Recently we had a period where it was dead,â€ said resident Christine Williams. â€œThey came out and repaired it. Once it was repaired, there was some humming on the line.â€ Williams says Southwestern Bell came out three times before her telephone finally worked.

Phone problems are constantly plaguing the town. The population in Collinsville has nearly tripled in the past three years and the phone system is no longer large enough to handle the volume of calls. New homes are being built all over town. Southwestern Bell says this growth is what's causing the phone problems. More people are using the phone and the Internet. This usage causes phone lines to jam.

When one calls the police department, it may seem like the dispatcher is a little slow in answering. The reason is for the slow response is that just so many people can get through. They say 9-1-1 works fine, but the non-emergency lines will answer with a recorded voice that says, â€œIâ€™m sorry. Your call can not go through at this time. Please try again later.â€ "We are worried and we do continually check,â€ said Collinsville police officer Denise Henry. â€œWe're checking our lines constantly to make sure. We would notice if something was slow and we hadn't received a call in a long time."

Fire Chief Russell Young says he is advising people to call 9-1-1 if they absolutely cannot get through on any of the local lines. Southwestern Bell says it will rewire the city's entire system and it should be up and running by mid - February, until then expect to hear a busy signal and perhaps a recorded voice telling you to try again.

Southwestern Bell could be ultimately responsible for the phone problems. Claremore's city planner says Southwestern Bell has to sign off on all of the building contracts to ensure the company can handle the expected growth of a city or town.