VoIP Telephony - What You Need to Know First About Emergency 911 Calls

Voice over Internet Protocol providers Skype, and Vonage are just two of the many VoIP telecoms service providers which have, in the past, come under fire in the US, and elsewhere, for failing to connect emergency 911 calls.

It is quite natural for users to assume that VoIP based systems will provide emergency response services in much in the same way as is provided via cell phones and fixed line phones. Indeed, the suppliers of VoIP services want us to view their systems as equals to fixed lines, and indeed also, cell/mobile phone services.

Now, it is highly possible, in fact, that as the technology behind VoIP is further refined over the next few years it will become impossible for even technically aware users to know whether a particular phone system is either VoIP based, or a standard fixed line system. So, this being the case unless VoIP providers can get this service up and running there are going to be tragedies arising from users assuming that they have emergency service call coverage, when in reality they don’t have any 911 capability whatsoever.

Some tragedies have already occurred already from VoIP’s 911 shortcomings, in the emergency call area. It has been reported that one tragedy in particular has already needed legal defence from provider Edison, N. to deflect prosecution.

Stories about problems with the local emergency call capability of VoIP based cell phones, in use in current systems in place, have already been known to feature in the headlines of newspapers. Reports focus on the fact that individuals in emergencies are been picking up their VoIP phones unaware that no service is provided, and they waste much precious time before realizing that they will not be able to place the necessary emergency call.

As VoIP phones are on the Internet and nomadic, the location of the individual placing the 911 call can be very difficult to determine. VoIP and 911 issues are not easy for the VoIP providers to resolve either, as users often install their service on laptops and other mobile devise, from which there is no geolocation data available in the way this data is integral to cell phone systems.

The solution proposed is that all VoIP providers should be required to transmit all 911 calls, including a call-back number and the registered street address of the customer, to the appropriate emergency call enter or local emergency authority. These systems have reportedly been developed by some VoIP providers and are available. However, in many areas cases emergency service providers are not yet capable of receiving and/or processing the call-back number or street address information transmitted with VoIP 911 calls, and even where they have been implemented there a very big question mark over the adequacy of such a system.

For this reason, in this article we can only talk in general and we recommend that all existing and potential VoIP users ask detailed questions concerning VoIP 911 service provider requirements and regulations, in their location. You should visit the local telecoms regulator’s web site or similar local inspector’s website, and if necessary make enquiries to these bodies for clarification, and make your decision on how to act on this matter. It could be a matter of life and death to the users, for example, of an office VoIP system in the event of fire or entrapment.

To get around the lack of E911 (E100 in Europe), it is recommended that any factory or workplace should:-

1. Maintain at least one non-VoIP line in each office for emergency calls as it phases out its PBXes exchanges;

2. Publicize the fact that emergency service calls cannot be made over the normal (VoIP) office phone system, and ensure that the location of the emergency service enabled non-VoIP line is known to all users.

VoIP service providers in North America, are endeavoring to solve the 911 problem, and the solution being progressed works something like the following:-

- Prior to activating a new customer’s service, VoIP providers must obtain the street address where the service will be used, so that emergency services will have the best chance to locate the customer in the event of a 911 call.

Enhanced 911 or E911 service is a North American telephone network (NANP) feature of the 911 emergency-calling system that automatically associates a physical address with the calling party’s telephone number as required by the Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999.

More specifically, manufacturers, such as recent entry VoIP vendor Zultys Technologies, are fine-tuning products like its MX250 to mitigate the 911 situation.

Enhanced 911 is reported to be currently (as of 2007) deployed in most metropolitan areas in the United States and Canada.

Outside the United States this type of facility is often called ‘caller location’, though its implementation is dependent on how the telephone network processes emergency calls.

But is Enhanced 911 reporting really a ’solution’ at all? Read on to find out more.

Users should be sympathetic to the difficulties the VoIP providers face in implementing emergency call services. VoIP companies are still just minnows when compared with the big telecoms providers. The amount of work needed to bring in 911, and similar emergency services, across so many nations is huge. Let us not forget either that the traditional fixed line telecoms providers will not be anxious to assist their upstart VoIP competitors in resolving the issues preventing solution of the one remaining area where the fixed systems and cell phone systems providers still have an undeniable lead.

Skype, for example, explains that it considers that it does not have access to reliable real-time location information for its users. Skype tells us that it may determine a user’s IP address, but IP addresses (in addition to being vulnerable to spoofing) offer only the most general sense of a user’s location. It is open to Skype to request location information from its users, but it is their view that any self-reported information is likely to be unreliable.

This VoIP further explains that users typically use Skype from laptops or from several computers. It is common for its users to log into their Skype accounts from home, work, hotel rooms, airports, internet cafes, and anywhere else they have access to a computer and a broadband connection. As a consequence it seems to be self evident that any user-reported location information, even if initially correct, will only at best accurately describe a user’s location some of the time. At worst, and not infrequently the user-given address could be error so much so that the real location may be in a different continent.

In these circumstances it is understandable, and should be seen as entirely forgivable by the user, that many VoIP suppliers are saying that that they are simply unable to deliver emergency calls to the proper emergency response provider.

In this context, many VoIP suppliers consider themselves unable to transmit location and callback information, as to provide incorrect data may be worse than the provision of none at all. A VoIP service provider supplied call to the emergency services would run a serious risk of being routed to the wrong public response service location, and would contain unreliable information once connected.

Adding capability for such calls to the VoIP service, for as long as there is no automatic real-time method of verifying geolocation within the VoIP system, would reduce user security by creating a false impression that the VoIP service supplier is capable of providing a service able to reach the right emergency services reliably.

Furthermore, to increase the burden on the emergency response services with improperly routed VoIP service provider sourced calls and then supply unreliable information would be a very unfortunate outcome, to be avoided above all.

The advice given at present by most VoIP providers is that their services should not be used as a telephone replacement service and cannot be used for emergency dialing. All those who in turn provide VoIP telecoms through their own systems, such as within businesses, hotels etc. should also give the same warning, and an emergency line enabled alternative service should be made available and known to all that may need to use it.

Disclaimer: This article was written in good faith and researched at the time it was written. It is intended for entertainment use only, and all facts given will be subject to change in this rapidly expanding area of telecoms. The reader must themselves ascertain, from verifiable sources/including their own VoIP provider, the facts which apply in their particular circumstances, and must not rely upon the information given within this article. The author accepts no responsibility whatsoever for the information contained herein.

Steve Evans has provided a web site for those considering installing VoIP for use in their business. Continue to the The VoIP for Business web site, Pros and Cons Index page to make your decision

Steve Evans is also a regular contributor of dog breed related articles at The Dog Breeds Compendium

Author: Steve Last
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Hybrid and Electric Cars

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