Voip E911

FCC issues E911 regs, but mobile VoIP a headache

Doug Mohney — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:15:01 -0400

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued regulations this week for VoIP service providers to offer enhanced 911 (E911) call services to all customers, as required under the New And Emerging Technologies (NET911) Improvement Act of 2008.

Under the NET 911 Act, interconnected VoIP providers have the obligation to provide 911 and E911 services in accordance with existing FCC requirements. In addition, each interconnected VoIP provider has the right, like any other carrier, to access capabilities from other carriers to deliver 911/E911 services.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is concerned that there's no specific guidance on what capabilities could be used to help determine the origin of a 911 call; this is a big deal with mobile VoIP customers when they roam outside of their service provider's footprint. Without "last known call" information included in some fashion, there's not enough data to provide to the appropriate public safety officials to send help.

Other FCC Commissions disagree, saying that the FCC order reflects the language and intent of the NET 911 act and that it is too early to lock into last-known call as a required technology before the public safety community and the FCC have had a better look at other options.

Cell phone and VoIP providers are already required to offer 911 and E911 services, but mobile IP phone service adds another complication because a client is not tied into a specific location or cellular system that could be used to locate the caller. The NET 911 Act extends existing 911 service requirements for wireless providers to mobile VoIP providers.

For more:
- Government Computer News coverage of FCC's 911 wireless VoIP rules. Article.

Scoping out NG 911

Doug Mohney — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 21:17:39 -0400

Next generation (NG) 911 technology may be available much sooner than anyone thought, opening up new capabilities for the public and first responders.

Driven in part by the wireless industry, NG 911 IP-based services will enable citizens to reach first responders "any time, anywhere from any device," reports The Telegraph. Today's voice-based processes for reaching public safety will be replaced by a system capable of handling text messages, pictures and videos, as well as delivering pictures and videos to first responder mobile data terminals in police squad cars and fire trucks.

In addition, an IP-based network would also have the potential to easily route and reroute calls and data, so if one public safety call center was overwhelmed or unable to respond (think hurricane), calls could be sent to another center.

Cost is likely to be an issue with more expensive outlays for networking services required in a broadband, multimedia-centric world.

For more:
- The Telegraph (of Alton, IL) reports on next generation 911 VoIP services. Article

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FCC discusses new 911 VoIP rules

Doug Mohney — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:35:53 -0400

On Monday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published a notice for establishing rules on how E911 systems would handle calls from IP phones.

Enhanced 911 calls go to around 6,000 call centers - public safety answering points (PSAPs) - around the country. Under the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), the FCC wants to make sure VoIP providers have access to the capabilities they need to provide both basic 911 and E911 services.

The FCC wants to make sure 911 works the same way, regardless where a call is made. The Commission also wants to make sure calls coming from mobile phones or VoIP provide "meaningful" automatic location information. It is going through with the NPRM to comply with the newly enacted "New and Emerging Technologies 911 Improvement Act of 2008."

For more:
- FCW.com reports on VoIP 911. Article

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The ultimate E911 compliance test: Dial

The ultimate E911 compliance test: Dial

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 06:59:56 -0400

One of the ongoing concerns with VoIP has been the ability of service providers to effectively deliver a 911 call to the appropriate authorities. In an ideal world a VoIP-transported 911 call should go directly to the closest public safety access point (PSAP) and display both the phone number you are using as well as the location of the phone.

Public safety officials in Lee County, Fla. have come up with a quick and easy way for VoIP subscribers to verify their 911 service should work as defined: Call them. Specifically, Lee County Public Safety is asking people with VoIP service to set up an appointment to test their service to see if 911 works as advertised. Users have to call the County 911 program manager on his (non-911) phone line to schedule a time for a trial call, then call 911 at the specified time to verify both caller ID information and address associated with the phone number.

Testing has been going on for a few weeks, but so far only a few test calls a day have taken place. Officials would prefer "thousands" of test calls, since anywhere from 2 percent to 20 percent of VoIP services may either not have 911 functioning correctly or may have the wrong address with the registered phone number. Neither Vonage nor Comcast will tell officials how many customers they have; public safety officials estimate the two providers have 3,000 or more subscribers in Lee County.

For more:
- Lee County News-press Com 911 Testing article

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