VoIP providers to customers: tell us you understand E911 is limited for now

ZDnet ^ | 7-21-05 | Russell Shaw

[Mad Dawgg]

The FCC is requiring VoIP service providers to obtain acknowledgement from customers that they understand the current limitations of their provider's E911 service.

The requirement is to be fulfilled by July 29. That's a week from tomorrow, you know?

According to an article in telephony news site Voxilla, some service providers are undecided whether or not any subscribers who do not comply should have their accounts temporarily interrupted until they do. Packet8 spokesperson Joan Citelli says the company will cut off subscribers who don't comply with an acknowledgement by then.

The article notes that Vonage and VoicePulse reps haven't decided, and have asked the FCC for clarification on whether they will be required to cut off non-respondents.

Meanwhile, VoIP providers are doing their best to guilt-trip subscribers into complying with the FCC's acknowledgment edict.

I got a letter from Vonage, one of my VoIP carriers. It said in part:

Dear Valued Vonage Customer,

Recently we've sent you notifications about the important differences between our 911 Dialing feature and traditional 911. Even if you have already activated 911, due to a recently announced FCC 911 ruling we are required to ensure that you acknowledge your understanding of these differences. To continue to provide you with premium Vonage service, please Click Here to view a notice on our 911 Dialing and acknowledge that you have read and understand the information. Please do so now as failure to do so may affect your Vonage service.

Please note, if you have multiple Vonage accounts you must acknowledge that you have read and understand the 911 Dialing notice for each account separately.

To determine which account this is in reference to we have included your account information below.

I also received a voice mail message from Vonage, telling me to comply (which I have). Fellow VoIP blogger Tom Keating apparently got one, too. He made an MP3 of it, which he's linked to here.

Readers, have you received similar letters from your VoIP provider? If you have, send them along (leaving out personally identifiable info such as tel and account number). I'll post them here.

[steve86]

Voice Over IP's Quality Surprise July 11, 2005

Despite improvements, quality and reliability of VoIP calls don't match public-network calls, study finds

By Paul Travis
InformationWeek

http://informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=165700814&pgno=1

[AdamWilliams]

Sorry to bump this, but I was wondering how many people around here actually had VoIP?

[BlueNgold]

Easy fix if anyone is really honestly worried about this: even if you do not have an active account a phone jack that is connected to your normal hard line phone system is required to operate for operator and emergency services. (This rule was put in place to ensure emergency service availability for people who's phone service has been disconnected for non-payment.)

It should be possible to keep one cheap phone connected to your old hard wired main phone jack and 911 should activate properly from that phone.

[AdamWilliams]

I know some people have kep a bare bones landline just in case. Have you done this?

[BlueNgold]

I don't have VoIP but I am familiar with the technology, and used to advise clients in the early stages to do just that - keep a minimal service available for security/emergency personnel.