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VoIP and E911 Service
In the event of an emergency, are you capable of receiving the
emergency response from calling 911 that you normally expect
when using a traditional phone line? In the United States as
well as Canada, a 911 call placed from your telephone is routed
to PSAP (Public Safety Answering Points). Your number and
location are reported when this call is placed. Knowledge of the
phone number allows the 911 dispatcher to return the call if
necessary and the location is of obvious importance to route an
emergency response team. But what happens when this same 911
call is placed over a VoIP line?
There have been reported incidents where existing 911 calls
placed from VoIP don't get through to the primary PSAP and at
times are routed elsewhere. The dispatcher also wasn't receiving
the additional information such as phone number and location.
This can slow emergency response services to a critical level.
The FCC has mandated that all new subscribers have access to
E911 service. The Enhanced 911 service provides the same level
of information to the PSAP as described above. Currently there
are some VoIP subscribers who do not have this service. The FCC
originally order a disconnect for all existing VoIP users
without the E911 service. Recently the FCC has backed off that
order (the original deadline for disconnect was Nov 28, 2005).
Instead the FCC has now mandated that all 'new'
service be
equipped with E911 service. Those remaining VoIP providers not
offering E911 service will be unable to market or sell new
services until such time that they implement the E911 service.
When researching possible VoIP providers, you should make sure
that this service is available. The government is mandating that
it be available, but as an informed consumer this is information
you should know. What good is saving money on your monthly phone
bill if it's at the expense of the safety of you and your loved
ones?
Other things you should keep in mind is that VoIP runs over your
existing broadband connection. If your broadband connection goes
down, so does your phone line. Your broadband signal also needs
to travel through your modem, so in the event of a power outage,
your broadband is down as well. (because the modem would be
without power). You may want to review having a battery backup
in the case of power outages and perhaps a second traditional
phone line or a cellular phone in order to place emergency
calls.
About the author:
Provided by the FullService
Broadband provider. We provide unbiased and informative
information on broadband and communication products and
services. Our free service is possible through Try Right Technology, Inc.
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