King County has issued the following alert for all VoIP subscribers:
Imagine that a loved one in your home suddenly drops to the floor,
unconscious and not breathing. You pick up the phone and call 9-1-1, but
instead of reaching emergency help, you hear a recording: "Stop. You
must dial 9-1-1 from another telephone. 9-1-1 is not available from this
telephone line. No emergency personnel will be dispatched."
That scenario has happened to subscribers of the emerging technology of
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone service, provided by Internet
phone companies. Because of the reduced cost, this new phone service is
very attractive, and is being marketed by many different companies.
Examples of Internet phone service you may have seen advertised are
Vonage, AT&T CallVantage, and Verizon VoiceWing.
Not all Internet phone services can call 9-1-1. One company's recording
even instructs you to go to a neighbor's house to call 9-1-1. If the
Internet phone has been programmed to call 9-1-1, your 9-1-1 call may
not route to the correct 9-1-1 center, or may be answered on a lower
priority line than 9-1-1 calls. Your emergency call could wait to be
answered until all 9-1-1 calls have been handled. Your name, address,
and call-back telephone number may not be provided to the 9-1-1 center.
Some Internet phone companies do provide full Enhanced 9-1-1 service, in
which your call will be routed as a priority 9-1-1 call and will display
your information, but not all Internet phones have these 9-1-1
capabilities. It is important to read the fine print, so you understand
the 9-1-1 capabilities of the service before you decide to buy it.
If you are considering Internet phone service, it is your responsibility
to contact your Internet phone company to ask how 9-1-1 works from their
phones. You need to ask these questions:
-- Will 9-1-1 work from this phone?
-- Will my name, address, and call-back telephone number be provided to
the 9-1-1 center?
-- Will my 9-1-1 call be sent to the 9-1-1 center on the 9-1-1 network,
at the same priority as other 9-1-1 calls?
Remember that Internet phones look the same as other regular telephones.
In fact, the company will send you an Internet phone unit, and you will
plug your same telephone into the unit. Even if you understand that
9-1-1 may not work from your Internet phone, anyone else in your home,
such as babysitters or friends, will think that 9-1-1 works. They will
pick up your phone to call 9-1-1 if you or someone else needs help in an
emergency.
If you chose to purchase Internet phone service from a company that does
not provide full Enhanced 9-1-1 service, it is your responsibility to
inform anyone who comes to your home that 9-1-1 works differently from
your phone. You do not want to wait until the life of someone you love
needs to depend on that phone to call for help.
Internet phone companies and the 9-1-1 industry are working hard to
ensure that all Internet phones have access to full 9-1-1 service, but
it will take some time before that service is available for all Internet
phones.
