Illinois May Require VoIP 9-1-1

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By David Sims, TMCnet CRM Alert Columnist

The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is proposing legislation to get Internet-based phone providers to give customers the same kind of access to 911 operators as those who use regular telephone lines.

In the back of everyone's mind is the incident this past February 3rd in Houston, where 17-year-old Joyce John called 911 using Internet phone provider Vonage to report that her parents had been shot by home intruders. She got a recording telling her that access to 911 service was unavailable. Help took more than 10 minutes to arrive. Both parents survived.

It was later established that the Johns had multiple opportunities and reminders from Vonage to activate Vonage's 9-1-1 service but had not done so. In a blatantly emotional vote-troll, the Texas attorney general sued Vonage after the incident, probably since you don't win many votes suing registered voters who haven't followed Vonage's directions on how to activate their 9-1-1.

The FCC warns on its Web site that it "may be difficult" for Internet phone customers to "seamlessly connect" with 911 dispatch centers. According to Blagojevich's office, that's because traditional phone companies have not given Internet phone providers access to more than 3,200 emergency call centers nationwide.

Blagojevich spokesman Gerardo Cardenas said the governor said the companies need to figure out how to solve that problem. "We're not getting into that debate," he said. "What matters here is when you need police or an ambulance, it has to get there immediately."

[Jack Decker Comment: Texas is a SBC state. Illinois is a SBC state (and we all know what they say about Illinois politics). Anyone notice a pattern here?]

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