May 25, 2006 - Perhaps They Should Have Tested More - Telus Voice Mail

Telus blames software for message service shutdown 

Last updated May 24 2006 08:32 AM PDT
CBC News

Faulty computer software was responsible for the six-hour loss of message service for about 25 per cent of Telus phone customers in B.C. and Alberta on Tuesday, the company says.

"Two pieces of equipment that need to communicate with each other failed to communicate with each other effectively," Telus spokesman Shawn said, "and our technicians needed to get in there and solve that."

Hall said callers were able to leave messages normally, but mailbox owners ran into delays and busy signals when they tried to retrieve their messages. He said it took 20 technicians to fix the problem.

No messages were actually lost to the technical glitch, the company said, just delayed.

The company said the malfunction started at about 3:30 p.m. The system was restored at about 10 p.m.

Some customers are demanding financial compensation for the problem, Hall said, and those complaints are being dealt with on a case-by-case basis.