Tag: tech downtime

  • The Verizon outage that left more than a million without cell service yesterday is fixed, but what caused it?

    The Verizon outage that left more than a million without cell service yesterday is fixed, but what caused it?

    The Verizon outage that left more than a million without cell service yesterday is fixed, but what caused it?

    Yesterday for upwards of 12 hours Verizon customers trying to use their phone to call, text or even browse the web would be out of luck. The service was down for more than a million customers and an announcement of the outage wasn’t sent out until 10:30 PM Eastern Standard Time.

    This Isn’t the first massive Verizon outage we’ve reported on, or the first outage for a cell phone carrier, being without a phone even temporarily in 2026 can feel like being cut off from the world. Verizon has announced that customers can anticipate a credit for the downtime soon, but details are not available as to the amount that will be issued at the time of writing.

    The company responded to customers on X with the following after the outage:


    “The outage has been resolved. If customers are still having an issue, we encourage them to restart their devices to reconnect to the network. For those affected, we will provide account credits. Details will be shared directly with customers. We sincerely apologize for the disruption.”

    As with prior cellphone service outages customer phones were left stuck in “SOS” mode which indicates you’re not connected to your providers network and the only type of calls you can make are those to emergency services like 911. If this happens to you, it may leave you wondering if it’s you or it’s the service.

    Here are three steps you can take to determine if your service is really out or it’s just your phone:

    1. Toggle Airplane Mode
    • Turn Airplane Mode ON for ~30 seconds, then turn it OFF.
    • This forces the phone to re-register with nearby cellular towers.
    2. Restart the Phone
    • Power the phone fully off (not just a quick reboot), wait 30 seconds, then turn it back on.
    • This clears temporary radio/network glitches.
    3. Check Cellular & SIM Settings
    • Confirm Cellular Data is enabled, and the correct network is selected (Automatic is best).
    • If the phone uses a physical SIM, remove it, reseat it, and try again.
    • If it’s an eSIM, toggle the line off/on if possible.

    While we didn’t report on it at the time, Verizon also suffered a major outage in just August of last year but that outage was smaller in scale and duration. Verizon has 146.1 million customers across the United States. As of writing they have not released the cause of yesterday’s outage but have announced it was not due to a cyber-attack.
    Downtime of any kind can be highly disruptive to your business in the following ways:

    1. Lost Revenue
    When systems are down, sales stop. This can mean missed transactions, abandoned orders, or billable work that simply can’t happen.
    2. Reduced Productivity
    Employees can’t access tools, data, or systems they rely on, leading to idle time, delays, and expensive workarounds.
    3. Damage to Reputation & Trust
    Customers notice outages. Repeated or prolonged downtime can erode confidence, trigger complaints, and push clients toward competitors.
    As with the Verizon outage, customers were upset and repeated outages are a hit to their overall reputation. Valley Techlogic can protect your business from unnecessary technical outages and downtime, learn more today through a consultation.



  • Meta outage due to “technical issue” knocks out Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp

    Meta outage due to “technical issue” knocks out Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp

    When a tech company as big as Meta has an outage, the effects are felt pretty far and wide. Such was the case Wednesday when an outage knocked out a range of Meta services.

    Primarily affecting Facebook and Instagram, other Meta platforms such as Messenger, Threads and WhatsApp also had noticeable issues. The outage began around 9:30 AM PST and services didn’t begin loading again until 2:30 PM with some of the side effects such as messages disappearing or random error messages continuing throughout the day.

    To their credit, Meta did respond quickly to the outage posting a statement on X that reads “We’re aware that a technical issue is impacting some users’ ability to access our apps. We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible and apologize for any inconvenience.”

    As is usually the case though there were no transparent details behind the cause of the outage. This outage pales in comparison to the one we reported on in 2021 where the Facebook.com domain even appeared for sale briefly under Whois lookups.

    When you’re a company as big as Meta you can somewhat get away with less than transparent responses and a “sorry for the inconvenience” but for most businesses, responding to service disruptions is an important part of doing business.

    Here are four ways we recommend responding to service disruptions in a way that still puts customer satisfaction at the forefront (even when you’re dealing with a stressful situation):

    1. Prompt and Transparent Communication
    • What to do: Inform customers immediately about the outage through multiple channels, such as email, SMS, and social media. Clearly state what happened, what is being done to fix it, and provide an estimated timeline for resolution.
    • Why it matters: Transparency builds trust and reassures customers that the company is taking the issue seriously.
    1. Offer Apologies and Show Empathy
    • What to do: Issue a sincere apology acknowledging the inconvenience caused. Use empathetic language to show you understand the impact on customers.
    • Why it matters: Customers are more likely to forgive a company that demonstrates empathy and acknowledges their frustration.
    1. Provide Regular Updates
    • What to do: Keep customers updated throughout the resolution process, even if there are no significant changes. Communicate progress at consistent intervals.
    • Why it matters: Regular updates show that the issue is being actively addressed and reduce customer anxiety and speculation.
    1. Offer Compensation or Goodwill Gestures
    • What to do: Depending on the severity of the outage, offer compensation such as credits, discounts, refunds, or a goodwill gesture like free services for a limited period.
    • Why it matters: Compensation can turn a negative experience into a positive one, demonstrating that the company values its customers’ loyalty and time.

    If technical outages in your business are causing service disruptions for your customer, Valley Techlogic is the solution. We prioritize maintaining our customers’ uptime so that outages don’t affect their bottom line. Reach out today to schedule a consultation and take advantage of our holiday offer going on now.

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    This article was powered by Valley Techlogic, leading provider of trouble free IT services for businesses in California including Merced, Fresno, Stockton & More. You can find more information at https://www.valleytechlogic.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/valleytechlogic/ . Follow us on Twitter at https://x.com/valleytechlogic and LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/valley-techlogic-inc/.