Verizon information that accidental outages by third-party companies or homeowners performing construction work damage thousands of the company’s facilities. Fiber internet linesVerizon technicians can resolve some of these incidents in just a few hours, but some issues can last up to several days.
In both cases, the resulting internet outages can mean lost revenue for businesses and people working from home, not to mention plain frustration for everyone else.
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On Wednesday, Verizon announced how it plans to combat this: using artificial intelligence AI-powered technology. Rather than reacting to cuts when they happen, the company aims to be proactive in preventing them from happening.
811 “Call before you dig” It’s a national program aimed at helping businesses and homeowners know where important lines are. When you call the program and tell them the address where you plan to dig, workers will come to the property within three to 12 business days and spray paint or flag the locations of the lines.
Verizon is combining that system with its own AI technology to identify potentially problematic requests, reducing the chance of several hundred outages each year. Here’s how it works.
The 811 system receives more than 10 million excavation requests each year. These can be difficult to perform manually, and sometimes people get impatient and dig before workers can mark the lines or simply don’t pay close attention to the markings. Verizon’s technology uses both historical and current activity as well as excavator activity on site to predict when a line is in danger of being cut.
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In short, if a company has a history of cutting lines or a location has had lines cut before, the system will alert Verizon and take additional steps to contact the parties performing the digging.
If you’re planning to dig, Julie Slattery, senior vice president of engineering and core operations at Verizon, recommends making sure to call 811 first. “It’s the easiest step to take to reduce the potential for damage to underground fiber and help keep our customers and first responders connected,” she said in the announcement.