Cell phone faltering? Text, don't call

In the last storm, everybody in Atlanta tried to call everybody else in Atlanta, and the cellular system faltered. This time around, service outages are a possibility, depending on the severity of the storm. Some things to remember:

• The old "fast busy" signal indicates that the network is too congested. If you hear it, end the call and try again in a few seconds.
• Texting is a good alternative to calling. A text message may move more quickly than a voice call, and it chews up less battery time on your phone.
• Limit your calls to the most important ones, which will save battery life and put less strain on the network.
• Turn off the vibrate function, which uses more power, and avoid other extra features such as the Internet, WiFi, GPS and camera.