[Hidden-tech] best phone service?

[Jeanne Yocum]

Hi, all,

Wanted to make sure that anyone who is considering going to VOIP only is
aware of this potentially critical issue.   This article is from Oct. 2004;
it may be possible that some of these issues have been fixed by now but I do
recall seeing a piece on TV about it in 2005 as well.  So best to check a
company's 911 capabilities before signing up.

Jeanne Yocum


911 calls made over Internet often get lower priority
ST. PAUL (AP) ‹ Emergency calls made using new Internet telephone services
ring in through a nonemergency line and often aren't answered immediately,
according to an official who runs Ramsey County's largest 911 emergency call
center. 

Fred Fischer, a St. Paul police officer, added that the Internet emergency
calls usually are more difficult to handle because the 911 operator must ask
the identity and location of the caller. In a normal 911 call, that
information automatically pops up when the operator answers the call.

"The benefit of the 911 system is that we know your location in the event
that you can't speak to us," Fischer said. "We don't get that with the
Internet calls." 

Conventional wired phones are being displaced by a new technology called
Voice Over Internet Protocol, or VOIP. VOIP uses a high-speed Internet
connection to provide phone service instead of a conventional telephone
line. But the technology is creating some problems for 911 operators.

VOIP service, which provides extensive or unlimited local and long-distance
calling at discounted prices, converts the voice into digital bits that are
transmitted over the public Internet or a private data network. The bits are
converted back into a traditional phone signal just before the call reaches
its destination. 

Emergency officials say Vonage and AT&T's CallVantage service have the
difficulties Fischer describes, while Time Warner Cable's new Internet phone
service doesn't. 

Vonage didn't return a phone call to the Star Tribune of Minneapolis. AT&T
said it's working on the problem.

"We recognize there are concerns out there, and we will resolve them," said
Kerry Hibbs, an AT&T spokesman in Dallas. "We make very clear to our
customers that our CallVantage Internet phone service does not work the same
as traditional landline 911."

The Federal Communications Commission is expected to rule in the next few
months on whether Internet phone service should be regulated. If the FCC
decides VOIP should be regulated, it must set up requirements for services
such as 911, said Steve Seitz, spokesman for the National Emergency Number
Association, a Washington professional organization for 911 operators.

At the same time, the FCC is expected to tell regional Bell telephone
companies such as Qwest how much access to their 911 call-handling networks
they must provide to VOIP companies. Qwest has told the FCC it would rather
have the telephone and VOIP companies work out their own 911 policy, said
Mary LaFave, director of public policy for advanced services, based in
Denver. 

Technical improvements for VOIP companies are being developed by Intrado
Inc. of Longmont, Colo., which helps Vonage and AT&T connect their VOIP 911
calls to emergency call centers in the nontraditional way. Intrado, one of
about a half-dozen such 911 intermediary firms nationwide, said it hopes to
introduce a new service next year that will help VOIP providers connect to
the traditional 911 calling network.

Such changes can't come soon enough for Nancy Pollock, executive director of
the Metropolitan 911 Board, a St. Paul organization that oversees 911
service for the seven-country metropolitan area.

She's been upset by occasional 911 lapses, such as the routing of 911
Internet telephone calls to the wrong answering location.

"It's fairly misleading, in our opinion, to say that all Internet telephone
service is 911 compatible," she said.

But some Internet calling is 911-compatible. Time Warner Cable's new
Internet phone service, which is being tested and should be available within
90 days, routes 911 calls via Qwest's conventional 911 network to the
nearest call center. As a result, the caller's name, address and phone
number automatically appear on the 911 operator's computer screen.

That's mostly because Time Warner has agreed, for now, to be regulated by
the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission and has been certified by the
commission as a company authorized to compete with Qwest for local telephone
customers. That designation gives Time Warner access to a special Qwest call
routing network for 911 calls.

For now, emergency officials want consumers to understand that VOIP 911
calls may not be as good as they think.

"VOIP is a wonderful thing, and it allows you to make long-distance calls
dirt cheap," Fischer said. "But I don't think the sellers of those services
always make their customers aware that they are not getting true 911
service." 

Contributing: Information from the Star Tribune.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may
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© Copyright 2006 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

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