Mass. towns, emergency services swept up in global Microsoft outages

Detailed summary

Towns across Massachusetts and their emergency services have been swept up in widespread Microsoft outages that have continued to impact popular work and communication tools for a…

Towns across Massachusetts and their emergency services have been swept up in widespread Microsoft outages that have continued to impact popular work and communication tools for a second day on Friday.

Numerous communities reported Microsoft-related email disruptions on Thursday, while some said access was restored on Friday morning.

Around 7 a.m., Microsoft wrote on social media that officials are “seeing encouraging recovery progress,” in restoring access such as the email program Outlook and other products in the Microsoft 365 suite.

By around 8:30 a.m., some of officials began reporting restored access, including those in Sharon, Halifax, Attleboro, Dartmouth, and in Barnstable County.

Other communities dealing with the outage include Cambridge, Dedham, Wellesley, Arlington, Plymouth, Marshfield, Kingston, Harvard, and Orange.

The UMass Memorial Health system, the largest hospital provider in central Massachusetts lost email access for about 20 hours, with network outages being restored just before 9 a.m. Friday, according to a spokesperson.

Tufts Medicine also saw its systems return this morning, a spokesperson said.

“Throughout the disruption, we maintained alternative communication mechanisms,” which prevented any impacts to patient care, the spokesperson said.

State employees were also notified that the email system was down on Thursday afternoon, according to reporting by WGBH. A spokesperson for Governor Maura Healey did not immediately respond to an inquiry on Friday.

Opening of the article, excerpted from The Boston Globe. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.