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On Fri, May 27, 2005 at 07:44:42AM -0400, Bill Horne wrote: > With my brother's permission, I'm forwarding to the list his comments > about my recent post. > > From: MFF/RThomas D. Horne <hornetd.ta.mindspring.com> > > Now we get into this debate and some of the VOIP providers want to blame > us for not staffing administrative telephone numbers around the clock > thus giving them an inexpensive way out of the charges being leveled > against them. Those of you who are familiar with the technology are > even more aware than we are of the qualitative difference between 911 > service and any ten digit telephone number but most of the public are > not aware of those differences. Add to this the fact that the VOIP > providers are scared to death that they will be required to provide 911 > service at the first exchange rather than at their offices hundreds or > thousands of miles away and you have us drawing and sharpening our > public relations knives quite ready to leap down the throat of anyone > who tries to shift the blame for the recent communications failures onto > us. > > The best defense being a good offense there is a strong temptation > to condemn VOIP providers as profiteers who are unwilling to bear their > share of the cost of 911 service regardless of whether that is in fact > true. We have been working with the ILECs for a long time. We have > gotten used to them and they to us. The VOIP folks are the new kids on > the block so we are automatically on our guard for any hint of cost > shifting in both the financial and public confidence areas. Sounds Like Mr Horne understands the issues very well as well as their importance. I hope all of the states have their firefighters as well represented. -- Jeff Kinz, Emergent Research, Hudson, MA.
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