This is not a story of barn yard animals. It does, however, indicate that the engineers at Verizon Wireless have a sense of humor when it comes to disaster readiness – a subject that typically has very little to laugh about.

I once conducted an interview for a new-hire candidate where I posed the challenge to design a communications solution to go into effect in case of a natural disaster. The impetus for my question was Hurricane Katrina. The candidate did a OK job in the short 30 minutes alloted.

Today I stumbled across a Wall Street Journal Market Watch article describing what Verizon has done to prepare or disaster scenarios.

Within 24 hours after the storm [Hurricane Gustav], test drive results indicated the network was up and running at nearly 100 percent. In one of the hardest hit areas — Houma, La. — test drive results within 48 hours after the storm, revealed a call completion rate of 100 percent. … Enhancements to its regional switching facilities, which doubled its traffic capacity and back-up power redundancies. Many are designed to withstand a Category 5 hurricane and serve as regional emergency operations centers in the event of a storm.

They describe some impressive emergency response capabilities too.

• A new 35-foot $150,000 Disaster Response Trailer to be used as a temporary customer service location in areas impacted by a disaster.
• A fleet of Cells on Wheels (COWs) and Cells on Light Trucks (COLTs), and Generators on Trailers (GOaTs).

I suspect AT&T Wireless and Sprint have similar readiness plans and equipment. Interesting stuff to consider when you really need that call to go through.

Following my recent move, my “AT&T Wireless then Cingular then AT&T Wireless service” had no service (aka no bars). So, I finally called to cancel my service. I’ve been a long type customer so I was surprised that once I got to a customer service representative to say I wanted to cancel my service she said “one moment” …. and then “OK, I’ve gone ahead and canceled that number completely. Is there anything else I can do for you today?”

She was quick and efficient which I consider good customer service but *WOW* – not a comment to the effect of “are you dissatisfied with your service ?” or “could I ask the reason for canceling your service?” Nope. Just “Thank you for calling AT&T Wireless.”

Yup, that’s it. I’m no longer a customer. full stop.