VoIP quality -- 911 reliability

[gaf at blu.org (Jerry Feldman)]

On Monday 23 May 2005 10:23 am, Ben Jackson wrote:
> Technically, not really. The problem is in the fact that they are calling
> themselves a 'phone company' and people automatically assume "Phone
> Company" = Hard Line phone = E911. Silly.
>
> In reality, that's not true. Cell phones didn't provide E911 for over
> a decade, and still don't provide E911 very well, so why can't VoIP
> get the same treatment?
>
> I'm curious what would have happened to the cell phone industry if the
> FCC came down like a ton of bricks on them at the same point in their
> lifetime.
My point is that the VOIP companies are marketing themselves as phone 
companies as alternatives to POTS. Cell phone providers have never really 
marketed themselves as replacements for POTS. 911 service from cell phones 
was interesting. You normally got the state police or whatever police 
department was in the area of the cell phone tower you were connected to. 
The problem with cell phone emergency service was evidenced by the guy who 
murdered his wife in Mission Hill, and called it in as a black guy. The 
cops had some real difficulty finding the car. The guy (I forget the name 
off hand) later committed suicide by jumping off the Tobin bridge. 

The problem is that there are a few incidents, such as the lady that called 
911 from her VOIP and was continually redirected, the result that her child 
died. IMHO, this is entirely a buyer beware issue. 
But, since the marketing people are selling this essentially as a POTS 
replacement, the general public is not understanding its limitations. 
-- 
Jerry Feldman <gaf at blu.org>
Boston Linux and Unix user group
http://www.blu.org PGP key id:C5061EA9
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