March 08, 2005
911 VoIP
VoIP users expecting to pick up their phone and get 911 service in an emergency may be surprised to learn that the service is not always available. On February 3, a Houston girl dialed 911 from a VoIP phone shortly after her parents had been shot in her home. Instead of being routed to an emergency response center, she received a recorded message indicating that the service was not available to her. While VoIP provides the greatest opportunity for long-sought competition in the telecommunications sector, the trouble that public-safety answering points (PSAPs) are having with VoIP phones has already begun to jeopardize public safety; unless rectified, the situation will only worsen in the coming years as the number of VoIP users grows. But regulating the 911 difficulties is its own problem According to Contact Center Today:
Most believe the FCC would be hard-pressed to require Skype to provide 911 services -- or anything else, for that matter. Skype is not a U.S. company, and it's not a carrier. Regulating a software company like Skype or U.S. VoIP poster child Vonage would open a Pandora's box that could lead to unwanted regulations on other packet-based communications, including instant messaging and e-mail.
Read more: VoIP Challenges for 911 Call Centers
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