NASA’s New VoIP System Crash Cuts Off Network Access, Phones

On April 12, NASA’s new voice-over IP telephone service at its Washington, D.C., headquarters crashed, cutting off phone service and computer network access for hours, Federal Computer Week (FCW) reports.

Employees and contractors on duty at headquarters at the time were forced to communicate via cell phones and other handhelds, according to FCW.

The VoIP system went down while workers were configuring it around 1:30 p.m., FCW reports. Workstation connectivity was available again by 3 p.m., but it wasn’t until 7:30 p.m. that evening that VoIP service was restored, according to FCW.

NASA began installation of the new VoIP system last January, FCW reports.

NASA spokeswoman Sonja Alexander told FCW, “As a result of this unfortunate event, NASA [officials] have made some procedural changes and have also nearly completed planned mechanisms to more quickly restore VoIP service should a problem of this nature occur anytime in the future. NASA will proceed as planned with the system upgrade to improve future performance.”

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