Peel Police Issue Advisory on 911 and VoIP

The Peel Regional Police have issued a public advisory related to 911 & VoIP. The advisory echoes the comments I have previously made on this issue. I applaud them for taking the initiative to inform the public with accurate information on this important issue.

Link here.

As always I make the distinction between best-effort delivery VoIP services and Enterprise-Class IP Telephony. The latter can effectively address all of the 911 issues.

Rick McCharles
www.ric.ca

Full Text Follows:

February 6, 2007

Peel, ON 06 Feb 07 – Peel Regional Police, along with the Ontario 9-1-1 Advisory Board are warning consumers who are considering buying or already purchased Internet-based telephone service to be aware of certain technical 9-1-1 limitations.

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a telephone service that connects calls to the internet as a means of communicating with other phones. The VoIP system is becoming increasingly popular because it is cheaper to rent and make long distance calls. The traditional 9-1-1 system, which is based on the use of landlines, provides that the emergency call will go to the correct 9-1-1 Centre and provide automatic address and telephone information. This is not guaranteed with the VoIP system.

Here are some of the limitations of VoIP services during an emergency:

• VoIP has two types of telephone services: Nomadic (no fixed address) and Non-nomadic (having a fixed address linked to the telephone and the internet connection).
• Nomadic phones and some fixed phones (depending on your provider) calling 9-1-1 must connect first to a third party call centre and that call centre must then re-direct it to the appropriate 9-1-1 centre.
• The VoIP service provider’s call centre may be sending your emergency call to a non-emergency telephone number, which will result in delays and could have serious consequences.
• If the caller is unable to speak or the call is disconnected, the call centre may not be able to determine the address of the emergency.
• If your service provides enhanced 9-1-1, delivering location information to the 9-1-1 centre, it will be the information that you registered with your VoIP service provider. The routing to the appropriate 9-1-1 centre is also based on the information you provided as part of your registration process. Please ensure it is correct and update it when your locations change.
• When using some VoIP services automatic location information is not provided to the 9-1-1 centre.
• 9-1-1 Service is not available if your Internet connection is down.
• 9-1-1 Service is not available if there is a power failure.

Consumers are strongly urged to consider these facts and ask the following questions before subscribing to a VoIP service:

Will I be able to dial 9-1-1?

Do you provide enhanced 9-1-1? (phone number and address)

Will my 9-1-1 calls go directly to the local 9-1-1 centre?

Will my address information be presented to the 9-1-1 centre?

Public Safety is a priority to both the Peel Regional Police and the Ontario 9-1-1 Advisory Board. Consumers should contact their VoIP telephone service providers to clarify the options and restrictions of their products pertaining to access to 9-1-1. VoIP service providers are required to advise consumers of the limitation of their service in regards to accessing 9-1-1. Stumble It!