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FCC: VoIP Providers Must Provide 911 Services
acadiel writes "The Houston Chronicle is reporting that the FCC will require VoIP providers to provide 911 location services. This will mean extra $$$ that the VoIP providers will have to put out, which ultimately means extra $$$ that the consumer will have to put out. This is the first step in regulating an industry that should have been left alone..." I hope network end-points and physical location aren't going to be too tightly linked; one of the appeals of VoIP is using it from anywhere that has an adequate Internet connection.
I'm using Vonage for VoIP phone service, and they already allow Dialing 911.
Are there other VoIP service providers that don't?
Are YOU that out of touch that you think you need to get on your PC to make a VOIP call? VOIP phones that work just like normal phones (from the enduser view) have been in use for several years now.
VOIP dosn't mean computer...
Rogers cable here in canada are offering a regular phone that runs over VOIP on their cable system. Soon here in canada we won't have to depend on the telco for land line telephone.
God, root, what is the difference?
Not all VoiP services are going to require you to use a PC. There is no reason why you could not have a typical looking phone connected to an internet access point (ethernet jack in the wall).
My understanding is that such phone sets are starting to come onto the market. And when your bleeding, your not likely to look at the wires attached to the phone when you call for help.
Calling 911 is one of those things that should just simply work. There is nothing unreasonable about this.
END COMMUNICATION
I am being serious here mod me down if neccesary, BUT WHAT IN GODS NAME is the use of this.
Hold on Im getting mugged/raped/murdered OH but first let me log on to my computer to dial 911
WTF ?
VoIP is more-or-less a regular telephone, with the service part coming over your Internet connection, as opposed to your old copper wire phone lines.
The phones plug into their router, but otherwise acts like any other telephone does. You don't actually need a computer to use the phone, all you need is a live Internet connection.
That isn't true - if you don't have phone service there is no dial tone at all. It is possible that if you phone service is cut off for non-payment the dial tone and ability to call 911 may remain, but if you cancel your land line there is definitely no ability to call anywhere, not even 911.
:-)
This may not be true in all areas, but I know it is true in some cases. For instance, I just bought a house. The previous owner disconnected their service, and I never signed up for my own service. Still, if you plug a phone into the wall, you'll get a dial tone. If you try to dial out, you'll get that bi-tonal error dealie. Mind you, I didn't actually try dialing 911 as "just testing" probably wouldn't qualify as a plausible excuse.
In order to hook Vonage VoIP into my regular phone lines, I had to physically disconnect the external lines from Verizon, in order to ensure that there was no voltage running through the phone lines in the house.
Trust me, you get a dial tone.
ja, d00d, joo r right. d0wn wit da 35tabl1shm3nt!!!
I can totally see why they shouldnt force people to have something like 911 service. Heaven forbid you be able to get emergency service! Moron.
BTW, I use Vonage, and they already provide 911 service- you just need to give them the area the service is physically tied to so they will know where to route the call.
It does not, however, tie directly into the existing 'official' 911 service (from what I read on their "911 ToS"); I think its a call center which can pass it on or something.
Manipulate the moderator system! Mod someone as "overrated" today.
And that's exactly why cell phone networks are being forced to implement a location-spying technology of some kind so that the 911 centers get at least some clue where you're calling from if you call 911 on a cell phone. Because complying with e911 is not an elective, it's a requirement.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3485141.stm
"With effect from July 2003, both fixed and mobile networks operators have been required to provide caller location information to emergency services responding to 999 calls under the EC Directive 2002/22/EC."
I'm in a suburb of Chicago.
Forgot to pay the phone bill.
SBC shut me off.
First I realized was when I picked up the phone and got... no dial tone.
Phone companies definatly do not have to let you call 911 if you don't have a valid account - in Illinois. Other states may regulate differently.
What if a family member had a heart attack or something,
Having had a heart attack when I was at home alone, I'm not sure I'd be alive today were it not for 911.
So there's no way I'm going to rely on VOIP without 911 service.
And given the additional possibility of broadband outages, I'm going to take the safer road, and just keep my traditional landline.
(Oh, by the way, if you're calling 911 about your own ill-health, try to make this clear to the 911 operator up-front. After being asked "is this a police or fire emergency", and being transferred (!), I got an operator who, after my initial description of my problem -- something along the lines of "I'm very short of breath and I think I'm having a heart attack" -- asked, "does the subject have a history of asthma?" I had to explain -- while struggling to breath through the crushing pain in my chest -- that, first the "subject" was me, and second, I didn't have a lot of breath or strength to devote to chatting about possible diagnoses, could they please just send an ambulance now? (I knew had to conserve my strength for my upcoming crawl to the door.))
Opinions on the Twiddler2 hand-held keyboard?
Vonage 911 dialing is supposed to-- the keyword here is supposed to-- connect you to the same PSAP (Public Safety Answer Point) that you would be connected to if you dialed 911 from a landline.
In a normal 911 call from a landline, the call goes from the telco switch to the PSAP via a dedicated trunk that carries only 911 traffic. A data channel (ISDN) is provided that sends ANI/ALI information from the phone company, which uses various databases provided by Intrado and others to match up your phone number with your current address.
Dialing 911 from a Vonage connection, however, is equivalent to dialing the PSAP's 10-digit number. The call does not go through the 911 trunk, and no location information is sent other than standard Caller ID information. Depending on configuration of the PSAP, this line may also take non-emergency calls and your call may be answered with less priority than a normal 911 call. This 10-digit number is also the number used by alarm companies to report alarms to the police.
In the past, serious problems have been reported with the Vonage 911 service. One man tried to call "911" and got an insurance company instead. I highly recommend that you test Vonage's emergency dialing feature. Do not simply test it out, however. You will want to notify your local police department that you want to do this.
In case you didn't know, DSLReports.com maintains an active forum on VoIP providers. Official reps from Vonage frequent the site.
At our school, we don't earn a degree when we graduate—we earn pi/180 radians
I think the initial notion was that mobile phones are used most often in cars (and they were) and for auto issues where the CHP has direct jurisdiction.
They will route you to the right people, but when you're dealing with an emergency, minutes can be critical.
I learned this joy calling in a fire in a adrenalin-fueled rush ("Marge, what's the number for 911?"). "You're WHERE? Concord? Massachusetts? Why are you not in $MyTown? There's a concord here? Well anyway. !FIRE!"
Fortunately, a fire in the East Bay is also called in by 5000 home owners*.
If VOIP wants to be in the phone game, they need 911. Welcome to the 80s. And trust me, if you or a loved on slashes half his/her arm off, you don't wanna be trying to find a phone book and the firedept's number. ("I know you're bleeding, just tell me where you left the white pages").
MrChuck
* the fire was blown through eucalyptus into a cemetary (really). They found thousands of bodies afterwards ;).
Actually, there are ten digit numbers for PSAP dispatch centers. Having worked for a national electronic security company for 6 years, I have many of them memorized. There are databases of 10 digit PASP numbers, but they easily get out of date, and they tend not to be free.
A Google like database of PSAP numbers that is kept up to date might be a government database project that we could support. Such a database would be useful for citizens and corporations. Even without GIS information, you could at least get close enough based on city/county information to get an emergency response.
"None of us are as dumb as all of us." - meeting mantra
Do you know what would happen if you called 911 and didn't say anything, just left the phone going?
The dispatcher will send emergency help, generally in the form of police and first responder. Sure, you wouldn't be able to tell them the problem, but you will get help.
-dave
/., where "Apple and Google provide Iran with nukes" will be refuted with "But Microsoft is a convicted monopolist"
I have successfully dialed 911 from my Vonage phone. Granted, it wasn't a life-threatening emergency, but it seemed to go smoothly enough.
If you go the the door after a 'no voice' 911 call and try to convince them that all is OK without a reasonable explanation of why the call took place, they do have the right to break down the door and make sure you're not holding somebody against their will (That question went to the Supreme Court of Canada).
Of course, this doesn't work if the police don't know where in the world, the call came from. That's why the FCC wants some sort of locator service so that if they get a 911 call on VOIP, they can still send emergency services to the site.
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