Net phone operators reach E911 deadline

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Partially Agree

I agree with you that the FCC has not handled this correctly. I also agree that a VOIP customer should be responsible for knowing whether or not 911 works on their own phones.

Where I differ is when the discussion turns to guests in your house. What does the babysitter do? What if you suffer a medical condition that renders you unconscious. As the VOIP subscriber you know 911 doesn't work but does the person who discovers you face down on your lawn know this?

I think it's a good idea for VOIP providers to offer and enforce 911 if you are a U.S. resident. However, the FCC needs to realize a few things:

1) It won't be automatic. The customer has to tell the VOIP provider where they live and understand the pitfalls of roaming with the VOIP adapter. Until the customer "activates" their account and 911 is mapped to their location, the VOIP adapter should not provide a "dial tone".
2) VOIP providers need time to implement enhanced 911. In lieu of this, I believe basic 911 that is guaranteed to connect to a 24 hour a day human, is adequate.
3) If VOIP providers are running into walls because ILECs are in any way running interference, the FCC needs to step in and make sure the 911 system is open to VOIP providers without requiring them to invest in unnecessary equipment every town with a population of at least 300 people.

I have read that 911 is a special, separately trunked system that interconnects with the regular phone network. I think this is done to ensure that capacity problems experienced on the standard network do not affect 911 dialing. Whatever is required to open this network, if it is not already open, should be mandated by the FCC. And for those that think we're somehow being unfair to ILECs -- I thought that the public paid to create 911 and continues to pay to maintain it. If true, it should be open to any type of interconnect that would enable someone to get emergency assistance.

Posted by: robradina@...   Posted on: 11/29/05 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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