Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Receiving VoIP "9-1-1 like" Calls

From: NEXTEL-1
Date: Tue, 01 Jun 2004 14:24:48 -0400

Receiving VoIP "9-1-1 like" Calls
Posted By: Steve Makky, Sr. <[email-masked]>
Date: Monday, 24 May 2004, at 11:35 p.m.

Hello all,

Some of our PSAP managers have recently received letters of intent from
an "information services" provider announcing their intention of routing
9-1-1 calls received from their VoIP dialtone subscribers to 10 digit
administrative telephone lines that are published in a repository.

Despite the letter citing consensus on handling VoIP 9-1-1 (like) calls
within another professional organization (and attaching those consensus
goals and objectives within the correspondence), to me this brings about
concerns on several levels.
First, these callers will not be answered with any degree of high
priority and may, at times, meet a menu or be placed on hold to answer
actual 9-1-1 calls or handle other tasks. It's very likely a
telecommunicator would be blindsided by an inbound '9-1-1 like' call
from a source other than those that have been allowed (systemwide, we no
longer allow Phase 0 wireless calls and do not maintain separate
"emergency" 10 digit numbers).

Second, we have required dialtone providers seeking to do business in
our venue to enter into a written agreement that requires them to submit
escalation and contact lists, network surveillance and disaster recovery
plans so that the ability to provide a minimum level of service may be
maintained. As these have been judged to be "information services"
rather than "dialtone," these providers claim they are not subject to
regulatory mechanisms. One carrier claimed to be doing us a "courtesy"
of mailing the PSAP managers before they began sending calls.

Finally, 9-1-1 has bills to pay for its rendition. Being in a non-cost
recovery state (with a twice-defeated taxing initiative and what seems
to be a moribund attempt at enabling legislation which would allow local
entities to pursue local funding initiatives) and seeing a decline in
the only source of operating revenue (a 2% tax on base tariffed rate on
WIRELINE CONVENTIONAL telephony), these calls will join wireless as
increasing call volume without contributing to maintenance or
improvement the system.

We've begun to examine this situation internally and have not yet
committed to an "official" posture, but from my conversation with a
provider this afternoon, the calls will be coming sometime soon ("about
six weeks...").
How does your system intend to field these calls?

While I'd like to see open discussion on this matter, I get that some
may have reservations about making a public statement. Please feel free
to contact me directly by phone or e-mail if necessary.
Thanks!

Steve Makky, Sr.

http://www.apco911.org/theexchange/index.cgi?read=2900

============================================================================

Steve,

There are many changes coming down the pipeline that will help  PSAP's
deal with VoIP 911 calls. Here is just one solution. PSAP's should not
over look the pending CALEA legislation, PSAP's should also submit CALEA
comments to the FCC.
-----------------------------------------------

VoIP Inc. has filed a patent application with the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office. The patent application is titled "Method and System
for Back-up of Voice Over IP Emergency Calls," and describes a
technological process for a specific coding scheme to redirect certain
call types based on emergency dialing patterns, such as "911."

Based on the number pattern dialed, the call will be redirected to the
legacy emergency telephony system, allowing the user to reach critical
fire, police, and other services from VoIP-capable devices. This is a
critical differentiator in assured delivery of calls using VoIP
telephony devices, because today the delivery of emergency calls over
VoIP networks has been plagued with problems during the transition
period to next-generation phone services.

In addition to specific call routing of emergency calls out to
traditional "copper-based" 911 facilities, the device also provides a
fail-safe mechanism for routing calls during power failure events. The
device will automatically pass calls out to the traditional PSTN during
power failures, thus guaranteeing connectivity even during A/C power
failures, which would cause complete dialing failure with other VoIP
equipment in the same class. These FCC-approved devices allow
transparent connection to the PSTN network and the SIP-based VoIP
next-generation networks and maintain the emergency services that
customers have come to expect in telephony-style platforms.
The ability to use geographically-based emergency services location
ability is a huge step forward in the advancement of VoIP services and
their integration into existing telephony infrastructure.

 The regulatory and government environment is still formulating a plan
for emergency dialing methods for VoIP, and this device allows for use
in environments where regulatory requirements may prohibit network-only
emergency dialing in the near future.

"We will be filing additional patent applications before year-end as we
continue to develop and enhance our core technologies and the product
portfolio they support," VoIP Inc.'s Chief Technology Officer John Todd,
said, "If all the claims made in this application are approved, they
could represent a major positive step for VoIP Inc. and its customers
with 911 services inside their products. Moreover, we believe it would
continue to solidify our position as a premier Voice Over IP innovator
and strengthen the technology platform upon which we can expand market
share."

www.telecomweb.com
http://www.apco911.org/theexchange/index.cgi?read=2954

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