Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s emergency red phone system provides a backup communication method between departments in the event of other phone system outages.
The red phones function the same as any standard single line phone and are active at all times but run on an alternative switch to remain operational in emergencies.
If a system-wide telephone outage occurs, an announcement will be broadcast through the overhead paging system with the following message: “Some portions of the Vanderbilt telephone system are not operational at this time. Units without normal telephone service should use Red Phones. If you are experiencing difficulty reaching another unit by telephone, please refer to the Red Phone directory.”
At that time, the 230 red phones currently located throughout the campus will be the primary phone source until the problem is resolved. All phones have a printed directory at their location for reference.
To download an updated directory, identify specific extensions, or see about obtaining a red phone for your department visit: https://www.vumc.org/it/emergency-red-phone-directory