VOIP Phones Must Now Include 9-1-1 Service

In one of the biggest challenges yet for the young VoIP telephone industry, the Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously that Net phone operators must be able to steer 911 calls to the geographically appropriate emergency call center. In addition, the calls themselves must be accompanied by the originating address and phone number, the FCC said.

VOIP phone operators will have 120 days to comply after the ruling is published, which is expected in the next few days. The commission is responding to concerns from lawmakers and the public about a growing number of U.S. residents who use VoIP services. VoIP, or voice over Internet Protocol, allows a broadband connection to double as a phone line, and Net phone calling plans are cheaper than regular landline plans.

But because the calls aren't routed through the traditional phone system, carriers must engineer a way to get them onto the 911 infrastructure serving the nation's 6,200 emergency call centers. That task involves many technical, business and political hurdles.

Congress is joining the effort to force Internet telephone companies to link up to the 911 network. A 10-page measure, which has been introduced in both the Senate and House of Representatives, also would permit state and local governments to levy taxes on VoIP companies in exchange for providing access to 911 operators. The bill was made public just hours before the meeting at which the FCC passed its 911 regulation.

Focus on the VoIP 911 issue heightened in late 2004, following a string of incidents in which VoIP subscribers couldn't get through to emergency services, some with allegedly deadly consequences. According to Florida resident Cheryl Waller, her 3-month-old child died as a result of the delays.

Attorneys general in Texas and Connecticut are suing Vonage, alleging the company misleads customers about its 911 services. This is the direct result of a Houston teenager who failed to reach 911 on her Vonage line to get help for her parents who were shot during a home burglary. Vonage did advertise a limited 9-1-1 service, but typical VoIP 911 calls are answered by someone in the emergency call center's administrative offices and aren't accompanied by a call-back number or the caller's location. And, callers after business hours hear a recorded message that the offices are closed and that they should call 911 if there's an emergency.

VoIP operators blame 911 problems on their inability to access the telephone infrastructure owned by Verizon Communications, Qwest Communications, SBC Communications, and BellSouth that serve the nation's 6,200 emergency call centers. In turn, those Bell companies say VoIP operators have always had access, just not under the terms they want.

As I mentioned here before, the VOIP phone service I use, Packet8, does already have and E911 service now mandated by the FCC. Although they don't get the press that Vonage does, Packet8 is an excellent phone service that is actually cheaper than Vonage, and has local Grant County numbers.