Message snipped for brevity, but I think the primary message is that providing (and maintaining!) universal, standardized, up to date, and effective 911 service on a future primarily VOIP phone service is almost impossibly difficult.
>> A big problem is visitors, especially children who have been taught
>>> to dial 911 in case of an emergency.
Well, in a very large fraction of the nonresidential locations that I know about (starting with all of Stanford University, and extending to businesses, hotels, some apartment houses, stores, schools, and so on), there is no "911" service: you have to dial "9-911" (sometimes with a suitable pause) or even "1-9-911". There are certainly children routinely in those places; will they know about that?
911 for everyone, everywhere, is a great idea. However, it's at direct
> odds with mobile VoIP unless you can force people to enter their current
> address when they move the device.
AND force the service providers to actually process the information, accurately -- good luck!
Something needs to be done, but frankly, I'm not seeing the solution
> even with a relative infinite amount of money.
Agreed -- we should think of other ways to meet the need (such as, perhaps, my recent and more lengthy post).