Internet Telephone Service

VoIP and 911: A Bright Future

May 9, 2005

After numerous lawsuits, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and its leading provider, Vonage is attempting to tackle the seriousness of the 911 problems associated with Internet phone service. Currently, VoIP users experience difficulties connecting to 911 dispatchers and the location of the caller cannot be determined by the dispatcher.

Vonage, the leading VoIP provider, has teamed up with Verizon to help eliminate the 911 problems. Recently, Verizon and Vonage have begun testing the routing system in New York City. Since Verizon is only available in 28 states, Vonage is also making similar agreements with Qwest. Verizon is a leader in constructing Enhanced 911 (E911), services, making many benefits available to cell phone users.

When making a call to 911 from a VoIP service provided by Vonage, the call is routed to a Vonage 911 server. This server then queries Intrado for routing instructions. The call is then passed to Verizon's network over a physical circuit, that Verizon owns, and serves the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). Intrado sends the customers information to the Automatic Location Information database, where the dispatcher answering the call can pull the information.

Jeffrey A. Citron, CEO of New Jersey-based Vonage stated, "The work and cooperation between Verizon and Vonage is a true achievement for the industry, and we thank Verizon for making it all possible. Providing the means in which broadband phone companies like Vonage can offer E9-1-1 is a major accomplishment and we commend Mr. Seidenberg for his effort and influence by giving this project a high priority within the Verizon organization. Now Vonage can offer a true E9-1-1 solution on par with traditional telephone service, to all of its customers, regardless of the phone number they've chosen to use. Verizon has shown great leadership by working with new technologies to ensure that Internet-based communications services can interoperate with Public Safety Answering Points."

The timeline is questionable for the availability of this new service for Vonage subscribers, but time is of the essence. The lack of 911 reliability poses a major problem for VoIP users.

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