VoIP 911 Calls
VoIP 911 calls are an area of
confusion right now. VoIP 911 calls (or E911 for emergency
911 calls) are offered by some VoIP services, but not
others at the present. This will soon change. The FCC
has order that VoIP 911 calls must be standard, not
optional by September 2005. According to FCC Chairman
Kevin Martin, "Anyone who dials 911 has a reasonable
expectation that he or she will be connected to an emergency
operator."
This means several things. First,
VoIP call providers will now have to make it mandatory
that customers who sign up for service provide a location
for themselves. Second, VoIP call providers will also
have to scale back some of the "nomadic" features
that have attracted people to VoIP in the first place.
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The
FCC also ordered the four big U.S. local telephone
companies (Baby Bells) to give access to the VoIP
service providers to emergency 911 services. Leading
VoIP service provider, Vonage has been in negotiations
with SBC, Bell South and Verizon concerning gaining
access to the local provider's emergency network
services.
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Vonage is currently defending
lawsuits from Connecticut and Texas involving its lack
of VoIP 911 call service. Texas Attorney General Greg
Abbott in March 2005, filed suit against Vonage for
what he called deceptive business practices. Abbott
cited a case where burglars broke into a home and a
child tried to call 911 through Vonage but was unsuccessful
primarily because the family had not signed up for 911
service when prompted by Vonage. The FCC wishes to take
the decision-making process out of the consumer's hands
and make 911 call service mandatory for all types of
phone service, Internet, land, cellular or otherwise.
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| An article
in PC World states, "The FCC order does not include
exemptions for rural service and mobile devices. Instead,
it requires VoIP carriers to allow customers to change
their location information so that 911 works wherever
they take their VoIP phones, said FCC spokesman Mark Wigfield.
The FCC plans to work on a future order establishing a
method for customers to change their locations and have
E911 work without having to report their new location,
he said."
The recent FCC ruling show that
VoIP is gaining momentum and heading for the mainstream
soon. For this to happen, the FCC has to balance the
consumer need for VoIP 911 calls against over-reaching
regulation that may have a squelching effect on this
emerging industry. Pressured by the Baby Bells, cell
phone corporations, VoIP companies, consumer advocate
groups and others, the FCC is in a very tenuous position
of cautiously regulating what has so far gone unregulated,
the Internet.
August 29, 2005 is the first
FCC deadline concerning VoIP service providers informing
100-percent of their customers of the shortcomings of
e911 service. As many as 31,000 Vonage customers may
find themselves cut-off from VoIP service altogether
because of the FCC mandate.
September 29, 2005: The U.S. Federal Communications
Commission said it would give VoIP providers more time
to receive acknowledgements from customers if their
network doesn’t provide access to 911 emergency
lines.
The FCC said it won’t begin enforcing the rule
until October 31, instead of this Wednesday, but only
if the VoIP providers submit a status report by October
25. Many VoIP providers have already submitted reports,
and the FCC has felt encouraged so far by the level
of compliance.
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