Ever notice that in a storm, a power outage, or in a crowded urban area, your cell phone still works these days
There's a reason for that, and it's fascinating to learn what carriers are doing to keep your phone's signal on in an emergency.
Verizon Wireless took us inside one of its regional emergency bunkers.
This secret facility is the nerve center of Verizon, for the entire region, capable of handling thousands of calls and even more data around the clock.
It's designed to withstand anything short of nuclear war, and keep your cell phone working in a storm, disaster, or crisis like 9-11.
And it works. Cell customers we spoke with said they can't remember the last time the network went "down."
"We rely upon it when we have a power failure. Just last week when we had some storms," said phone customer Kate Krumm.
"It stays on during a power failure, which is very good," Jim Barhorst said.
But don't go looking for it. Verizon says it has a secret command center like this in every major city in America, in an unmarked brick and stone building.
There is no sign out front or on the road.
It is so secret they did not want us saying where it is, and they wouldn't even let us photograph the building's exterior.
Inside, Operations Manager Clayton Burkhart showed off the rows of Titanic-sized generators.
They can run for more than a week on fuel stored in tanks hidden on the property. They are hidden so that a drone, helicopter, or satellite image will not see a field of tanks.
"In this room I have the capacity to power the entire facility for an extended period of town based on the amount of diesel fuel I have at this location," Burkhart said.
Other generators will kick on at hundreds of area cell towers, keeping your signal strong.
And until they all fire up at full speed, which can take several minutes, several rooms full of what are essentially car batteries in rows will keep your signal strong.
"If the power goes out the equipment never fails. It never sees the power failure, it allows the batteries to hold the network in service for an amount of time while the generators start on and run," Burkhart said.
Command Center Expands with Increased Demand for Data
Burkhart said this command bunker is expanding every few weeks.
"The network's demand is continually increasing, with more customers, more users on the network, more internet of things for us to handle," he said.
With millions of calls, demand for videos, and other data streaming through this center every day, cell carriers can't afford a major system outage in today's high tech world.
And with more and more people dropping land lines, cell systems that work in all conditions will be more and more important in the years ahead.
That's good to know, so you stay safe and don't waste your money.
