From Columbia County 9 1 1:
A phone outage is affecting a number of landline customers throughout Columbia County; primarily Verizon, some Consolidated and some VOIP (Voice over IP, or “Internet-based" phones). We’re told the service disruption is caused by a fiber optic line that was damaged in the Albany/Rensselaer area. The outage is affecting multiple counties.
We have requested that telephone companies re-route their 911 calls to our 10-digit emergency lines. Verizon has accomplished this and other companies are working on it. Should you attempt 911 from a landline and not get through, please immediately retry your call from a wireless (cell) phone. Cellular 911 service is not affected by this outage.
Verizon estimates that repairs should be finished by early tomorrow morning.
PLEASE DO NOT DIAL 911 TO TEST YOUR PHONE.... doing so could cause an actual emergency 911 call to be delayed.