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FCC to Push VoIP 911 Requirements
maotx writes "Originaly declared a regulation free area, VoIP is going under a new look. With complaints against it, the FCC has decided to move forward with its original plan to require VoIP providers to provide 911 support. This brings up interesting questions on how they're going to know where in the world your VoIP enabled laptop is when you call 911."
The CRTC in Canada made 911 mandatory just recently. I wrote about this earlier. They basically say that for a roaming type service (I don't know of any VoIP that isn't), the provider does not have to connect you to the correct call center automatically. Instead, the caller should be able to identify his/her location and then the call can be transfered to the correct center. Not idea, but there is not a reliable way to no location based on IP, or even something like GPS. The other big thing that the CRTC said was that the service provider had to inform the customer clearly of these limits to 911 before the customer signed up. The CRTC news release is here
I've spent the past few days working in the dispatch center of an small county sheriff's office, installing some new gear.
Today, someone brought in chili, which was excellent. Someone else ordered a sack of hamburgers from the joint down the road (which were delivered, and were extraordinarily tasty). People were generally enjoying their servitude in that small, locked-down room.
On top of the dispatch console was some eccentric 911 industry trade rag. The cover story was about VOIP, and how it currently relates to 911 service as we know it.
Therefore, they're aware of it, and the possible problems it might have.
The 911 phone nearly never rings. And, at least today, it only rang once for an emergency. The rest of the calls (a half dozen, or so) were all from MCI, who were running tests on a new-ish overlay area code.
Every now and then, the radio would make some noise that the dispatcher would respond to.
The dispatchers spent the rest of their day waiting for the phone to ring and shooting the shit with eachother.
So, just to reassure anyone who's wary:
Go ahead and test your 911 service. Just make sure that you've informed them beforehand, and don't waste their time with superflous verbiage.
And if, for some reason, it doesn't work: Call them back, and explain that the test failed. If you think you can fix the problem, tell them that you might like to attempt another test later. Thank them, and hang up.
Believe me: Those are real people on the other end of the line. They're happy to invest a few minutes of their time, if that means a slim possibly saving someone's life.
They want this stuff to work correctly at least as much as you do.
Kid-proof tablet..