Date:
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Contact:
Ted Trepanier, Co-Director, Maintenance and Operations, (360) 705-7281 (Olympia)
Alice Fiman, WSDOT Communications, (360) 705-7080 (Olympia)
OLYMPIA – A computer server located in Olympia failed Sunday, leaving WSDOT’s 5-1-1 Highway Information Hotline out of service for approximately two hours. Hundreds who tried to acquire traveler information using the system did not get through or heard a “busy” signal.
Once technicians became aware of the problem, calls were re-routed to a back-up server in the Seattle area; however some callers still experienced a busy signal, due to the limited capacity of that server.
Both servers were online as of 11 a.m. today.
When both servers are functional, they can handle 192 simultaneous calls. While the hardware was repaired, 5-1-1 was working at half capacity.
At this point, the hardware failure appears random, however, technicians believe the 6,000 per hour call volume was a factor.
Technicians are examining the entire system, in case Sunday’s problem reveals system vulnerabilities. The team will then recommend both short-term fixes and long-term improvements.
“The 5-1-1 system is an important tool for providing updated travel information and managing traffic,” said Ted Trepanier, WSDOT Co-director for Statewide Maintenance and Operations. “We are doing all we can to make sure the system is up and running,” he said.
The 5-1-1 traveler information hotline manages 4.6 million calls statewide in Washington each year.
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