To be prepared for any "Y2K" telecommunication failures – possible software problems resulting from the transition from the year 1999 to the year 2000 – an emergency shortwave data link had been established at UN Headquarters in New York. A transceiver, connected to a PC and powered from independent power sources (batteries and a small Diesel generator) ensured access to the equally prepared main hub of the UN shortwave data network, permanently operated at the European office of the UN in Geneva.

The problems many experts were afraid of did not occur. The Y2K-equipment in New York was put into storage. The telecommunications officer who had installed it and had been trained in its use, retired a few months later.

In 2003, a power failure affected Manhattan, and this just at a time when the normally available emergency power system in the UN headquarters building was undergoing urgent repair, following a fire in a central control unit. Somebody remembered Y2K, and the equipment was located. The installation appeared to be successful – the equipment was successfully switched on. But what now? Nobody at headquarters knew, on which frequency, in which mode or with what call sign to log into the network. Calling Geneva in voice mode on any of the channels that had been pre-programmed for the emergency network some 4 years ago, had no success – the shortwave network providing a permanent backup for traffic between Geneva and field offices in Africa and Asia is an automatic data network and can be accessed only in the proper mode and with the correct station identification.

Lesson learned: Without the necessary information about the radio network it is to connect to, equipment is of no use even if it can be made to work somehow. A skilled radio operator might have found a way around the problem, by trying to establish contact with any reachable station, for example on a band allocated to the Amateur Radio Service. Any station outside the blackout-area, answering the emergency call, could then have called Geneva on the public telephone network. A UN telecommunications officer in Geneva could then have provided the details necessary for connecting the UN network directly, or at least indicate a frequency on which he or she would listen for a call in voice mode from New York.