911 VOIP Calls Should Be Tested
Source: asteriskblog.com
All Americans know how to call 911 in case of am emergency. The system was first investigated in 1958 and was set in place in 1967. The first 911 call ever to be made was in 1968. The caller was Rankin Fite, then the Alabama Speaker of the House, and the person who answered was Congressman Tom Bevill. The 911 emergency call system has gone a long way since then and has saved countless of lives.
Today, with telephony covering many aspects and facets aside from the conventional telephone lines, the ability to reach 911 in case of an emergency is something to consider. With VOIP becoming as prevalent as it is today, it is but natural to make sure that people who use VOIP lines instead of conventional phone lines will still be able to call 911 and get the fastest service possible.
This is why the Lee County Division of Public Safety is calling for the testing of the efficiency of calling 911 from VOIP lines. To date, there has been no case of failure or complications of 911 calls from VOIP lines. However, I do agree with them when they say that we should not have to wait for such an occurrence.
So why should there be any complications with VOIP lines when they function basically the same way as regular phone lines? The fact is that there are differences – significant differences. This is particularly important with the Enhanced 911 service, wherein details such as phone number, name, and address are displayed. This information can spell the difference between life and death in some cases. If the person in trouble does not have time to state the important details, the dispatcher just has to look at the information displayed on screen and have the proper people go over to the site.
Sometimes, though, when VOIP users make calls, the vital information is not displayed at all. What reasons could be behind this? One reason could be that the VOIP user did not give their VOIP service provider (VSP) that information – this could be either because they purposely did not do so OR they were not informed that they should have done so. In any case, the possible results are the same – no information will be displayed when they call 911. More so, some VOIP calls do not get connected directly to the 911 center. Instead, they are routed to a VSP center first.
As you can see, this is a vital point that has to be dealt with soon – before anyone actually gets in trouble because of the lack of proper preparation.
