RE: [NENA-ltd] CNet VoiP-911 news

["CHRIS PEABODY" <>]

Right - as has Avaya and others.  I have that option on the softclient on my 
laptop (Avaya calls it Road Warrior Vs Telecommuter)
What is their patent for then.  What is interesting to me from the press 
release is this part which I've never heard of (I worked at verizon for 15 
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.

That's the part I don't quite follow.  As others have also stated, you better 
hope that the drop wire or local loop pair has not been "snatched" to feed 
someone else in your neighborhood.

CBP

Chris Peabody
Director, Enterprise Network Communication Systems
L Robert Kimball & Associates
Washington, DC
301-296-4550  Work
301-529-3825 Cell


>>> "Mark Lewis" 
>>> <>
>>>  05/27/04 03:15PM >>>
Yea, we actually have a product that does this target specifically targeted
for Enterprise users in remote teleworker applications such as Call Centers
and work at home folks. A person can be sitting at home connected to the
VoIP network with the terminal adapter which also has a POTS connection.
When the user dials 9-1-1, the call is routed to the POTS line thereby
solving the problem. This is certainly nothing new, we've had it for a few
years.

Cheers,
Mark

-----Original Message-----
From: CHRIS PEABODY 
[mailto:]
 
Sent: Thursday, May 27, 2004 1:58 PM
To: 
;
 

 
Subject: [NENA-ltd] CNet VoiP-911 news


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
      http://news.com.com/2100-7352-5162907.html 

    * 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 

 
Copyright (c)1995-2003 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.


Chris Peabody
Director, Enterprise Network Communication SystemsOor Back-up of Voice Over
I L Robert Kimball & Associates Washington, DC 301-296-4550  Work
301-529-3825 Cell


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