August 26, 1999

 

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone East Corporation
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone West Corporation
NTT Communications Corporation

 

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone East Corporation (NTT East), Nippon Telegraph and Telephone West Corporation (NTT West) and NTT Communications Corporation will hold a trial of its Nationwide-use Emergency Voice Mail (NEVM) service. The trial will be held during National Disaster-Prevention Week from August 30 (9:00) to September 5 (17:00) in Japan. The NTT companies are holding the trial to familiarize the public with the emergency service and help them use it smoothly in case of disasters.

NEVM provides a way for people to contact friends and loved ones during natural disasters, including earthquakes and floods, and notify them of their well-being. The system will come into use when normal phone lines are jammed due to excessive calling to a certain area. NEVM initially started in March 1998. Since that time it has been used a total of 92,000 times during four natural disasters.

During a similar trial last year, which was also held during National Disaster-Prevention Week, the service was used approximately 30,000 times.

The trial will take place nationwide and callers will be allowed to leave messages of up to 30 seconds (the same condition will apply in case of an actual disaster). Messages will be kept for 1 hour (48 hours in case of an actual disaster) and callers can leave up to 3 messages (1-10 messages in the event of a real emergency, with the exact number depending on the disaster area). Nationwide phone numbers can be registered for the trial (in case of an actual disaster, phone numbers in and around the disaster area can be registered). Also, the service can be accessed via cellular and PHS phones, however, it may not be available from some PHS service providers.
Callers will be charged for the calls they make and normal phone rates will apply. For example, if a person in Tokyo left a message for a person in Osaka, the normal Tokyo-Osaka rate would be charged.

Potential NEVM users should: 1) decide on a key phone number to register among their family and acquaintances, and 2) try to convey accurate information within the 30-second message time limit.

The emergency phone service is now provided by NTT Communications due to the reorganization of NTT. However, in case of an actual disaster, NTT East, NTT West and NTT Communications will each operate the service according the disaster’s location.



Reference:
How to Use Nationwide-use Emergency Voice Mail