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Our fax machine called 911

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  • Our fax machine called 911

    Not sure exactly how, but it did... and they sent back a 'is everything okay' type fax... and of course, nobody paid attention to it, and it was removed from the fax machine and put on a counter.

    So I get a call from the police asking if there was an emergency.

    Me:Me
    Pop:Police on phone

    Me: No, no emergency
    Pop:We recieved a fax for you and sent a reply

    Me *checks fax machine, nothing. Looks in recycling bin for anything that looks like its from Police* Nothing here, sorry.
    Pop: Okay, stay on the line for me. How many people arein the building?
    Me:*glance about* About twelve, including staff and customers.
    Pop:Okay, police are on their way. Stay on the line please.
    Me:Okay...

    Now, I am reception. I give people their fixed computers, make change, adn answer phones. I get one of the sales guys to go do the 'get computer from shelf', and I manage to hold the phone to my ear while I took calls on the other ear.

    PoP: You're good at multitasking. You should work here!
    Me: Aww, thanks, but I tend to freeze up when there's an emergency.

    So the police arrive in 15 minutes (They weren't running 'hot' because there's no 'urgent' emergency), and come in.

    Me: Okay, they're here!
    Pop:Are they in front of you?
    Me:*lookig up at smiling officers, trying not to go into Idol Worship Mode* Yes, they're smiling at me!
    Pop: okay. can I talk to one fo them please?

    By then, the MoD has noticed and comes over to ask me jokingly "Anne! What did you do now?!?" And I explain. We have a good laugh, police depart, everyone happy.

    Sales Guy: *to the police as they walk out * You guys dont need a computer mouse or keyboard do you?!? *he was joking, yes*
    Do radioactive cats have 18 half-lives?

  • #2
    Had something similar happen one night last summer. Only we didn't get the friendly warning call before they showed up. Cop shows up and asks us if everything's okay. We confuzzledly reply "Yeah..." And he tells us that 911 got a call from a number traced to this building. The problem? The prefix (not the area code, but the XXX part of XXX-YYYY) didn't match the numbers for the building, which are all AAA or BBB, no exceptions. So we had NO clue what was up. He took a quick tour, and then left. We never did figure out what happened.
    Ba'al: I'm a god. Gods are all-knowing.

    http://unrelatedcaptions.com/45147

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    • #3
      The bank branch in my store once had the hold-up alarm call the police on it's own. The customer being served had a long winter coat on. After the intial shock to the customer and employees of a half dozen armed officers showing up they laughed it off.

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      • #4
        For the three months I've been at the Bread Company the police have been there twice responding to an alarm that was supposedly set off in the back that no one in the store heard. Per VA law (at least I believe it's VA law), since this was a non-emergency call on an emergency alarm, the store was given a $500 ticket (at least the first one was $500, probably because it was during the Christmas/New Years season) for pulling police away from other potential emergencies.

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        • #5
          I used to work part-time at a liquor store that was being remodeled. Due to some crossed wires, the silent alarm used to go off on its own. It was rather unnerving the first time I received a call from the local police. They asked if everything was OK and then told me they had received a silent alarm. I then had to answer several security questions and then go outside and speak to the officer that was waiting in our parking lot. I just hoped that my mom had not driven by and seen the police there, as she was not happy about my working there and would probably have bugged me to quit that job (I was 40+ years old at the time ) She was worried the entire time that my younger brother and I worked there that we would be held up.
          "I guess they see another cash cow just waiting to be dry humped." - Irving Patrick Freleigh

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          • #6
            When I first moved to Arizona back in the 80's I worked as a cashier/salesperson. The second night I worked behind the couner a team of police officers busted through the door and did the "Are you OK? Your silent alarm went off." thing. I had no idea how, or who set it of but they cleared out in about 5 minutes. About 2 hours later the same thing happened though some of the same officers were not so friendly and told me that I should contact the owner to have it fixed. I explained to them that I didn't even know where the alarm trip mechanism was but that I'd tell the owner.

            As it turned out, the trip mechanism for the alarm was where I was putting the tip of my shoe under the bottom of the counter to balance myself as I tipped the chair back to relax between customers. I was the one setting the alarm off.
            This isn't an office. It's Hell with fluorescent lighting.

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            • #7
              I almost discovered the hard way that my phone can dial 911 when the keypad is locked. Luckily I pulled it out of my pocket before it hit send. This is why is need a flip phone.
              The High Priest is an Illusion!

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              • #8
                When I worked at a supermarket past 11PM, I was sometimes given a "watch" that had a panic button. When pressed hard, it would activate the silent alarm and summon the police. The experienced cashier on nights told me she once accidentally and unknowingly pressed it. She was alone and she heard a "Psst!", turned around and saw a sheriff's officer wielding a shotgun pressed against the wall near the door. She followed him, and there were half a dozen cops in the vestibule all wielding shot guns. They apparently thought there was a hostage situation when they didn't get a response to calls to the (empty) office.
                Testing
                "I saw a flock of moosen! There were many of 'em. Many much moosen. Out in the woods- in the woodes- in the woodsen. The meese want the food. The food is to eatenesen."

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                • #9
                  We've got birds nesting in one area upstairs. Every now and then we get a call from the alarm company: "Your alarm in upstairs #2 just went off" Whoever's working at the time will explain about the birds and either reset it or explain why they can't reset it. One time I got a call "It's Bob from the alarm company, just calling to let you know the birds set off the alarm again".

                  It's all good, it's impossible for a person to trip that alarm without tripping any of the others.

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                  • #10
                    I was once a security guard at a bank.

                    This was my job duties:
                    - Each morning I was to do a walk around of the inside before the workers got there.
                    - Let the workers in as they arrived.
                    - Walk the workers to/from the drive thru which was not part of the main building.
                    - Walk the workers to the drive up ATM two times a day, also not part of the main building.
                    - Help customers, mostly business accounts, carry change out or in.
                    - Rest of the day I was to make sure only customers used our parking lot and to walk into the bank now and then to make sure all was OK.

                    The parking lot was on the side of the building and was where my little building was. The main doors surrounded by many windows was facing a main street with little to no parking.

                    One day I was walking into the bank from the parking lot side and just looked towards the main doors and I seen a police officer peeking around the corner and then another on the other side. We had like 20 customers in the bank at the time. The phone was ringing because everyone was busy with customers.

                    I just wave at the police, they step out and I see the guns drawn, I start walking quickly to the doors and open them.

                    PO: Everything OK?
                    Me: Yeah, why whats up?
                    PO then moves me aside and they enter with guns still out and look around.

                    Seems the holdup alarm went off and 911 was tring to call and noone would answer so they sent the police. Instead of coming to me outside in my little building to see if I knew anything or to keep me outside they waited until I entered then peeked inside. They all parked on the main street side and didnt cover the parking lot side doors.

                    If they had came to me or even pulled into the lot I could have used my phone to call inside. I could have even forced a line to answer inside by just hitting speaker then an extension number. It would have gave us instant contact to the inside and we could have heard everything going on.

                    We never did find out how the alarm went off. The only clue we had when it went off was a small flashing light on the box that held the film. That bank used photos when the alarm went off, didnt have video. The police were not happy the bank didnt answer the phone when they called. I understand but all employees were busy and they didnt have someone that just answered the phone.

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                    • #11
                      I read somewhere, possibly Snopes.com, that some really old cellphones will dial 911 on their own.

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                      • #12
                        There was a problem with some phones in Australia. Our emergency number is 000, on some mobile phones that's a reset code or something. Basically dialling it does something other than call the police so they had to introduce a second emergency number for mobile phones, I can't remember what it is though!

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                        • #13
                          The GSM standard emergency services number is 112, which in Australia redirects to 000, in the UK 999, and so on.

                          In Australia it was originally publicised because it could force a phone to use any carrier's network to make a call, even if the phone lacked or had a void SIM.

                          Now that most phones are localised to accept 000 as another emergency number it is not as widely known.
                          I think, therefore I am. But I am micromanaged, therefore I am not.

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                          • #14
                            I used to work at a petrol station. One day the silent alarm was somehow activated (I know I didn't touch the button, nor did my colleagues). The police didn't phone first and 3 police cars turned up, one officer came in and when he saw nothing was going on he waved the others away.

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                            • #15
                              My old Cell phone, which was not a flip phone or otherwise hid the keypad when not in use, when set to locked, would still allow you to dial 911 (or *8 which would tell the cell tower to route you to the nearest police department instead of the one the area code was set to, or so they tell me). During the standard course of simply bumping around in my pocket, my phone dialed 911 (or *8) about once or twice a week until I finally got pissed off enough to get a new phone. A flip phone that hasn't done it since.
                              Flood

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