CNet VoiP-911 news

["CHRIS PEABODY" <>]

Sent from Wendy Wiggens at Educause.

I am a bit suspicous of this, but curious.  It won't work for wireless users 
(laptops at coffeeshops) - and I don't think it will work for enterprise 
users - but like most people, I love the simple solutions if they really 
work.  We'll see.

Also, I'm an ex technician and cable splicer -  I was unaware of the fact 
that teleco's were required to keep continuity on their unused lines in case 
someone wanted to dial 911 on one.  

Lots of questions....

CBP

   http://www.news.com/
Net phone company's answer to 911

By Matt Hines
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
http://news.com.com/2100-7352-5221705.html

Story last modified May 27, 2004, 10:41 AM PDT

As Internet phone calling starts to take off, one company is tackling a 
still-missing part of the puzzle: How to pinpoint people making emergency 
calls.

VoIP Inc., a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based maker of hardware and applications 
for placing phone calls over the Internet, said Thursday that it has a U.S. 
patent pending for technology to redirect such 911 calls back to copper 
landlines to be picked up by traditional emergency systems.
                

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With the technology, which is already being tested by Comcast and XO 
Communications and several other voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) 
carriers, the company aims to address concerns over how 911 operators locate 
people in trouble.

The same technology that allows VoIP users to be mobile is creating 
difficulties for service providers trying to meet the Federal Communications 
Commission's requirements for so-called enhanced 911 (E911) requirements. The 
nature of Internet phoning means that people can make or receive calls at the 
same phone number regardless of where they are in the world.

To add to the problem, most VoIP service providers don't have a direct line 
to emergency call centers, using instead a circuitous route.

To give emergency operators some sense of where a VoIP call is coming from, 
service providers automatically supply them with a subscriber's current 
address. Problems arise when a 911 call is made over a broadband connection 
outside the home, such as from a hotel room or a cafe with Wi-Fi connections. 
Operators may assume the call has been dialed from the home address, unless 
told otherwise.

Most VoIP providers warn their customers of the possible problems and urge 
them to keep address information up to date. People are also advised to give 
their location to emergency operators when not at home.

The FCC has pledged to take a low-key approach in pushing VoIP providers to 
offer E911--a bow to the technical difficulties the industry faces. But the 
longer it takes for the industry, the more pressure the FCC faces to come up 
with a regulatory solution.

CEO Steven Ivester believes VoIP Inc.'s "low-tech" approach will prove more 
effective than an E911 approach. More importantly, he said, it provides a 
quick fix for the emergency-tracking problem, allowing VoIP carriers to begin 
offering new services more quickly, especially since the package of hardware 
and software has already been approved by the FCC.

"Rather than attempting to merge analog and digital technology, as carriers 
would be forced to do in order to meet E911, this gives them an immediate way 
to provide emergency coverage," Ivester said. "We think this is a very simple 
solution that basically eliminates years of development for carriers trying 
to solve the 911 problem."

The VoIP Inc. system, labeled "Method and System for Back-up of Voice Over IP 
Emergency Calls" on its patent application, promises to automatically 
recognize when emergency numbers such as "911" are dialed and to switch the 
calls to traditional landlines, allowing people to be located as they have 
been for years. Since local telephone services providers are required by law 
to provide dial-tones on unused phone lines explicitly for emergency use, 
people who have shut off their landline services in favor of VoIP can still 
reach authorities using the package.

In addition to routing 911 and other emergency calls to landlines, the VoIP 
Inc. device also promises to provide a fail-safe mechanism for handling calls 
during a power failure--an event that can disable many existing VoIP phones.

Nelson Tarke, a regional sales manager for XO Communications, said the VoIP 
Inc. emergency system has alleviated a major concern at the company and will 
allow the Internet phone market to develop faster than it could without such 
a tool.

"This is going to morph the industry and let a lot of carriers move forward 
with plans to introduce new services," Tarke said. "And it's not just a 
Band-Aid, it's a cure, because it meets the FCC regulations and eliminates a 
huge problem for the foreseeable future."

Among the other carriers testing the product, which is already available from 
VoIP Inc., are AT&T, Bellsouth and SBC Communications. Ivester said the 
device's greatest advantage is its simplicity.

"It's such a simple answer to the problem, it's really sort of dumb that no 
one thought it up before," he said. "Upgrading existing VoIP systems to meet 
E911 could be a $1 billion problem, but we think we've solved it--at least 
for the next two years or so, as companies work on their infrastructure."

Ivester said he expects to receive patent approval within 18 months.

The need to plug the VoIP Inc. device into a traditional phone line is a bit 
"clumsy," said Charles Golvin, an analyst with Cambridge, Mass.-based 
Forrester Research. But he conceded that the idea could serve as an effective 
answer to the 911 issue while carriers work on their own plans.

Golvin added that the problem of locating emergency calls is representative 
of the many hurdles that face current VoIP technologies.

"In a world where most people still have (local landlines) used primarily for 
cost avoidance, things like emergency calling are less of an issue," he said. 
"But for users willing to go all the way, the risks for those people and 
their carriers remain hard to understand."

In February, a group of companies working on VoIP products and services, 
including AT&T and Microsoft, established the Voice Over Internet Coalition 
to work on managing and limiting regulation of the Internet phone calling 
market. One of the issues the group is known to be working on is addressing 
the application of the E911 guideline to VoIP.

CNET News.com's Ben Charny contributed to this report.

    * Related News Heads up VoIP--regulation incoming  April 9, 2004
      http://news.com.com/2030-7352-5188097.html

    * VoIP to get a voice in Washington  February 20, 2004
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    * FCC likely to limit Net telephony regulations  February 6, 2004
      http://news.com.com/2100-7352-5154604.html

    * California eyeballs VoIP rules  January 27, 2004
      http://news.com.com/2100-7352-5148246.html

    * Commentary: Wiretapping VoIP?  December 18, 2003
      http://news.com.com/2452-7352-5129423.html

    * Get this story's "Big Picture"
      http://news.com.com/2104-7352-5221705.html

 
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Chris Peabody
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