VoIP e911 Service
A major factor that needs to be considered before switching to a VoIP phone service are the VoIP 911 emergency services available. In the past, the VoIP industry was largely unregulated. Because of this, VoIP service providers were not required to provide 911 services. However, the FCC recently ruled that all VoIP providers must meet full 911 compliance by November 28, 2005. Those companies that are unable to achieve full 911 compliance must stop their marketing efforts in areas not covered by 911.
Types of 911 Service
Two different types of VoIP 911 service are currently available from most VoIP providers. The first type is E911 service, and the other one is a 10-digit routing service.
Enhanced 911 Service
Enhanced 911, or E911, provides physical address information to a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). When a call comes into a PSAP it is routed to the proper emergency service. E911 is useful because it can locate a person even if they are unable to speak to the operator or if the call is disconnected before information can be given. However, with an IP based non-geographic system like VoIP it is hard to determine a caller's location. Because a VoIP device can be used wherever a broadband connection is available, the difficulty of determining where a call is coming from is further increased.
10 Digit Routing
Currently, the ten-digit routing method is the emergency service that is used by most VoIP services. With this method, routing tables are used to convert a 911 call into a ten-digit number. This ten-digit number is used to determine where a caller is and to help route the call to the correct emregency call center. As you might imagine, this system does not work as well as E911 especially with Voice over Internet Protocol. If you call does get routed correctly, there may be other problems you could experience. For example, with E911 your information is automatically provided to an emergency operator, but with ten-deigit routing you must tell the operator where you are. If you are disconnected during the call or unable to speak, the information may never get transmitted and emergency services will not be able to locate you.
