"Federal Agency's Tech Shift Sparks Safety Concerns: EPA Under Fire for Replacing Desk Phones with Laptop Software A recent medical emergency at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has highlighted the potential risks of the agency's decision to replace desk phones with laptop-based calling software. The move, intended to streamline communication, has been met with resistance from the EPA's largest employee union, which claims that the new system poses serious safety issues. According to Justin Chen, president of the union, the software's 9-1-1 geolocation feature, designed to quickly pinpoint the location of callers in emergency situations, is not functioning as intended. As the EPA continues to rely on this new technology, concerns are growing about the potential consequences for employees and the public."
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) replaced employee desk phones with calling software used on their laptops, something the union says poses safety issues, including during a recent medical emergency. Justin Chen, president of the biggest EPA employee union, told The Hill that the additional software that’s supposed to handle 9-1-1 geolocation “doesn’t really work, apparently.”...
