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VoIP 911 Emergency Service: Problems and Fixes

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the phones-came-before-emergency-call-systems dept.

13.7BillionYears writes "Slate explores the technical hurdles VoIP faces in providing 911 emergency services and points to some technical, legislative and commercial workarounds that just might work. Some are the author's own ideas, some are already in the works. Until this little doozie gets solved, VoIP will have to suffer plenty of FUD of the credible variety and may never spark a real revolution. Of course you can always keep analog POTS (plain old telephone service) around like floppies--just for emergencies--but it'll cost you and tie you down in a number of ways."

13 of 170 comments (clear)

  1. I disagree... by IronMagnus · · Score: 4, Informative

    "Of course you can always keep analog POTS (plain old telephone service) around like floppies--just for emergencies--but it'll cost you and tie you down in a number of ways." ..I'm not 100% sure if landlines work this way, I would assume so, but I know for cell phones, even a non-activated cell phone can still dial 911. So go ahead and switch to VOIP, even if you don't have a cell phone, keep an old one charged up.. if theres an emergency, you can call 911 on it.

    1. Re:I disagree... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      If you're shot and bleeding to death, you may call 911. If your car breaks down you get to walk to the nearest gas station ;)

    2. Re:I disagree... by rfc1394 · · Score: 2, Informative
      I'm not so sure about this though. I have an old cellphone I would like to keep in my car for dialing 911, but there's no way to know if it would actually work for that purpose after I have cancelled my service.
      All cell phones - I believe it even includes ones blacklisted as stolen - are required under Federal law to be able to call 911. Even if the phone has no service you should still be able to use it for that purpose.
      --
      The lessons of history teach us - if they teach us anything - that nobody learns the lessons that history teaches us.
    3. Re:I disagree... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Your actually correct, part of those 911 service fees on your local POTS line goes to pay for 911 service for people who have old disconnected POTS lines without dialtone service. So even though you pick up your phone and there's no dialtone there, you can still dial 911.. provided of course that at one time you had service on that line. Otherwise go to a pawn shop, goodwill and buy an analog cell phone *911 works without service. I have VoIP and an analog bag phone with ac/12v dc converted ready to go (I use it for other purposes, but that's a handy one as well)

  2. Mine has it by querencia · · Score: 5, Informative
    Time Warner Cable in Austin has VOIP with enhanced 911 service.

    http://www.twcdigitalphone.com/austin/faq_specialf eatures.htm#Can%20I%20call%20911

    Q: Can I call 911?
    A: Yes, absolutely. Safety is important, and enhanced 911 service is provided. Note that Digital Phone does not include back-up power and in the event of a power outage, the ability to call 911 will not be available until the power is restored.
  3. Uh, no... by pyrrhonist · · Score: 2, Informative
    Of course you can always keep analog POTS (plain old telephone service) around like floppies--just for emergencies--but it'll cost you and tie you down in a number of ways.

    No it won't, the local provider is required to provide 911 service on disconnected lines.

    --
    Show me on the doll where his noodly appendage touched you.
    1. Re:Uh, no... by rfc1394 · · Score: 2, Informative
      No it won't, the local provider is required to provide 911 service on disconnected lines.

      Can you provide a citation for this? While cellphones work this way, I can't imagine that landlines do. No power to the line, no dialtone, exactly how are you going to call 911?

      In some areas they have enough free pairs and new equipment available that they can leave service terminated lines connected to the switch, in which case they have only "service terminated" connection (there is probably an official name for this type of phone "service" but I'm sure you know what I mean), the line cannot receive calls (it does not have a dialable number), and can only dial two numbers: the service connection number to have service turned on, and 911. If you try to call anything else, you get a recording telling you to call the service connection number (which it gives you.)

      In places where they have older equipment that can't give you a service terminated connection, then you get either a battery line (dead line with hum) or they pull your pairs to give them to someone else (and you get a dead line with nothing, not even hum.) Back before they got the newer switches that supported service terminated connections, they had to cut you off to battery line or pull your pairs.

      --
      The lessons of history teach us - if they teach us anything - that nobody learns the lessons that history teaches us.
  4. 911 is free... by theknife · · Score: 3, Informative

    when i jumped to Vonage and cancelled my POTS service, Bellsouth left my line with a dial tone and a message that said the line could only be used for 911. problem solved at zero cost:-)

  5. another possible solution: by MoOsEb0y · · Score: 2, Informative

    Keep a cell phone around with no service plan. They are required to dial out to 911 regardless. You can pick one up at a local thrift shop for around 5 dollars.

  6. Vonage eliminates the need for this by Laebshade · · Score: 2, Informative

    Through the Vonage web interface you set your physical address so that when you call 911 they know where you are just like any normal POTS.

  7. Re:Know your location? by fean · · Score: 2, Informative

    Honestly... easiest way for this to NOT be a problem... buy a cell phone off ebay... anything with GPS locationing will work... don't activate it... 911 ALWAYS works, and they've had GPS Locationing for years, so you can get one for ~$20...

    Tell your kids that you have an emergency phone to call 911 if something bad happens...

    keep it plugged in, w/o the battery (most kyocera work without a battery as long as they're plugged in)...

    BLAMO... yay for easy solutions...

  8. Real E911 for VoIP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    E911 for VoIP is on the way. It will be able to be integrated into your existing VoIP service and some VoIP providers may even try to sell it to you as a value-add. The problem of moving to a different location should be diminished as the methods to update your address become more real-time.

  9. Packet8 has E911 today by hedley · · Score: 3, Informative

    If you pay the E911 $3/mon fee. It will send
    your address to the operator. On broadbandreports people have tried it and indicte it works properly. pay, play.

    Hedley