Does anyone have a voip company they could recommend that has true 911 service? I have Lingo now but their 911 is a joke. You have to call
911, give them your name and address because, although you enter your emergency information when you sign up, it is not being propogated to their 911 center.thanks.
Vontage has e911 in some markets like NY but I think all the US based providers as well as the baby bells are under pressure by the FCC to provide this service. I would wait before jumping to another provider. Read these articles:
Even with the same company it is hard to be sure if they can do 911 and/or E911 ("enhanced" - which is really what you are talking about) Also, it is area dependent, not just company dependent.
As far as I have heard NO VoIP company is certified E911 provider in any area.
VoIP is similar to Cell Phones which call the PSAP and you have to tell your location. In our area, only land lines are true E911. Cell phones and VoIP goto the PSAP which is not the same as our emergency response center (which services the E911).
Both cell phones and VoIP in the US will soon be required to provide working 911.
I believe that the FCC issued a ruling within the past few weeks giving VoIP providers 120 days to implement 911 service. As I understand it, all US VoIP carriers will be required to meet the FCC specifications. So this may be a moot point in just a couple of months, irrespective of which provider one selects.
Only in the US. There are other places in the world, you know..!
Personally I would not rely on VoIP for emergency service. The traditional landline is far safer at the moment.
Ivor
Re-read my post: "all US VoIP carriers will be required . . . " The OP
*was* discussing 911 service in the United States, was he not? What care I about VoIP providers from Mongolia?The entire VoIP industry is growing and learning how to cope on a global scale. 911 issues will soon be resolved, one way or another b/c service simply won't exist without it, as made clear by the FCC.
The OP never mentioned the US, just 911. That may be the code for emergency services in Mongolia, for all I know.
Which you might care about should you ever need to go there. Unlikely, maybe, but possible..!
Ivor
Issues will not be resolved without some sort of compromise or else some sort of additional techknowlogy, i.e., GPS folded in with it. What you must realize is that one of the promises of VOIP is a new degree of mobility without the umbilical cord of a physical hardwired connection, i.e., Wi-Fi.
VOIP is partly there with hardwired cat5/6 cable connections, but even so when we permit people to move about willy-nilly, from jack to jack, within a major office building, the 911 implications are significant. You either have some way to track (and report) these moves or else you don't, and if you don't you're setting yourself up to get bitten. When the emergency crews show up in the lobby, you damn well better know where to send them or else you're begging for a lawsuit.
The original VOIP systems designers were told that they were going to have to address 911 at some point, but the manufacturers pooh-poo'd this, assuming (wrongly) that pent-up market demand to finally make the break from the dreaded moves and changes associated with legacy wiring closets would override this. My goodness how terribly wrong they were. If Vonage is any example, 911 has just bitten them in the ass so hard that they haven't enough ass left to make a good sandwich.
Other vendors take heed. One way or another you -will- provide 911 (in the USA at least) or the FCC will put you out of business.... and "E" 911 is just around the corner (as far as being required).
With ATT Callvantage I have alternative E-911.
The "alternative" means that they do not supply power in case my local power fails. ( I have a UPS to deal with that. )
It also means that if my high speed internet goees down there is no 911, but we knew that!
Otherwise, my local dispatcher is called AND they are given my location! ( this is in Massachusetts )
How do propose to make GPS work indoors?
This is an unrealistic expectation in all but the most tightly integrated networks. In other words, with the public Internet added to the mix, it is frequently IMPOSSIBLE to determine the location of an IP device using passive methods.
what are you going to do if you get sent to mongolia for 3 months by your employer and use voip from there?
it would be nice if the voip carriers thought about the implications of their advertising - if they do 911 for US emergency calls, what about calls from europe, 999 for UK and all the rest?
My suspicion is the US based carriers will follow american tradition and ignore the rest of the world.
FWIW - what will happen with voip carriers based elsewhere with US subscribers?
>The PSTN 911 is so fool proof that it will always function better than a TCP/IP based internet phone. So mixed PSTN AN VOIP Long distance is still optimum for fixed location infrastructure.
Marco CLT VOIP PSTN automatic switch
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