FairPoint Communications, state and local officials told a legislative committee this morning they are confident that the state's 911 system has recovered from problems that plagued it earlier this spring.

Jeffrey Allen, the company's executive vice president, testified at a Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee workshop that new equipment was installed following a series of shutdowns in April, May and June.

The equipment will ensure that people will reach help in an emergency, he said.

"There is a general question in the public: 'If I dial 911, is somebody going to answer at the other end of the line?'" Allen said after the hearing. "We all are very confident if someone dials 911, it's going to get answered and it's going to get answered by someone who can take care of that call."

Between April and June, emergency communications systems at the Cumberland County regional communications center in Windham, the state dispatch center in Gray and the Penobscot County Regional Communications Center had problems receiving 911 calls.

In response, FairPoint installed a switch allowing dispatch centers to immediately transfer calls to a backup center when there is a system malfunction, and a designated telephone line to alert staff when there is a problem.

Committee members scheduled Monday's meeting following the system failures, to find out the extent of the 911 problems, what FairPoint had done to fix them and whether the problems had anything to do with FairPoint's takeover of Verizon assets this spring.

Gorham Fire Chief Robert Lefebvfre, head of the Cumberland County communications center board of directors, told the committee that since the episodes in Windham and the installation of new equipment, there have been no new problems and he feels confident the system should handle the public's 911 needs.

The questions of why the problems happened as FairPoint was taking over is not entirely clear, but may have been related to a systemwide overhaul was completed in February shortly before FairPoint took over.