Leading 911 vendor Intrado has announced it is installing equipment to deliver voice-over-IP (VoIP) emergency-service calls in New York City directly to appropriate public-safety answering points (PSAPs) with address and call-back information through the traditional E-911 system.
Intrado has offered a 'V-911' solution that directs VoIP 911 calls to the appropriate PSAP, but those calls are delivered to the PSAP's administrative line instead of being routed directly to a dispatcher. But the New York City solution uses an Intrado gateway that directs VoIP 911 calls in the New York area to the appropriate selective router -- owned by incumbent phone carrier Verizon Communications -- so they can be answered by a PSAP dispatcher, said Marcus Andronici, Intrado's product and marketing manager for VoIP
911."Here, we have gone another level, in that we're creating the infrastructure to deliver calls to Verizon's selective routers," Andronici said. "This is going to be the first access to a Verizon selective router."
Indeed, leading VoIP provider Vonage has repeatedly stated that gaining access to incumbent carrier's selective routers is necessary to provide emergency-calling service in the legacy 911 system. After initially meeting with some resistance from incumbent carriers, Vonage officials have said their company has reached agreements with Verizon and Qwest Communications on selective-router access.
But access to the selective router is not just a limitation for companies like Vonage, Andronici said. Even Verizon's own VoIP product, VoiceWing, was not allowed access to the selective router because the VoiceWing arm is not regulated as a telephone carrier, he said.
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