Understanding 911 calls with VoIP providers
Accessing emergency services by dialing 911 is a critical component of public safety. The general public is used to the functionality of calling 911 through traditional phone service. Consumer customers of Vonage, Skype, and Google Voice, as well as business customers of VoIP providers’ Hosted PBXs, Hosted VoIPs, and Virtual PBXs, use Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), which is a completely different technology. VoIP technology brings unique challenges and different functionality in 911 call processing.
Don’t expect VoIP 911 calls to work the same as traditional 911 phone calls.
Key differences between VoIP and traditional 911 calling
1. Traditional 911 phone calls are routed to the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) that is responsible for a particular area. Typically, the local PSAP can automatically identify the location and phone number of the caller. Some VoIP providers may not connect to the local PSAP or may ring inappropriately on the PSAP’s administrative line, may be unstaffed after hours, or trained 911 operators may not respond.
2. VoIP calls to 911 may connect to the appropriate PSAP but not automatically transmit the phone number and location.
3. Many VoIP providers allow their customers to move their phones anywhere they have broadband Internet access. The customer must take responsibility for updating the phone’s location information as VoIP providers will not be aware of the movement.
4. Traditional home phones can receive power from the phone company. Business phone systems may draw their power from centralized equipment that may have power backup. 911 and other calls can fail VoIP service during a power outage if each piece of equipment required to connect the IP phone to the Internet does not have power backup.
5. VoIP calls, including 911 calls, can fail when the Internet connection is overloaded.
6. VoIP 911 calls can go through a VoIP 911 center that verifies the phone number and address before forwarding the call to the local PSAP.
7. VoIP phones that cannot call numbers on the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) may not have any 911 calling capabilities.
Although the differences between traditional and VoIP calling to 911 may seem scary, they are not with the following tips.
Tips for VoIP calls to 911
1. Select a VoIP or Hosted VoIP provider that routes your 911 calls to a local 911 center or PSAP in your area.
2. Provide an accurate physical address to the VoIP provider for each phone.
3. Know the procedures for updating the physical address and the prompt update in case of change.
4. Install power backup units to keep the Internet, routers, and VoIP phones running during a power outage.
5. Make a test call to 911 after a new VoIP phone installation or after a physical address change.
6. Clearly mark any phone that does not connect to the PSTN and cannot make 911 calls.
The FCC imposed 911 obligations on all interconnected VoIP providers in 2005. Interconnected VoIP is VoIP over a broadband Internet service that connects to the PSTN, or traditional telephone network. Under FCC rules, the VoIP provider must provide 911 as a standard feature, obtain the customer’s physical address prior to service activation, and provide an easy means to update information. With FCC rules and following the tips above, 911 service will be available on VoIP phones when an emergency arises.
