Some VoIP Firms Don't Offer 911
With traditional 911 emergency calls (aka
enhanced 911), a caller's phone number and address appear on the emergency
operator's line. This may not happen with 911 services offered by VoIP
carriers. In some cases 911 calls made from a VoIP phone are routed to call
centers whose operators must ask for the phone number and address so they can
forward the call to a local 911 operator. Some VoIP providers don't offer 911
service at all.
In 2005, safety proponents criticized the lack of 911 support in many VoIP accounts as a public safety hazard and attributed a number of deaths to callers' inability to reach 911 services. That prompted the Federal Communications Commission to require VoIP providers to implement 911 services for their customers. In areas where companies weren't routing 911 calls to emergency response centers, Internet phone companies were supposed to discontinue marketing to--and signing up--new customers.
Some VoIP providers still don't offer 911 service but continue to market and sell service in areas that lack it, in seeming defiance of FCC regulations. BroadVoice's Web site says that "At this time, BroadVoice does not provide 911 or E911 services." The company says that it expects to do so sometime in the near future, but in the meantime its Web site continues to accept new customers. When asked to explain why BroadVoice was selling service in what appeared to be violation of the FCC rules, Cornfield declined to comment.
Other companies, including New Jersey-based MyPhoneCompany.com, make E911 an optional service (even though the FCC intends for 911 service to be mandatory on all phones; it does not want customers to be able to opt out of it). MyPhoneCompany did not respond to repeated requests for comment for this report.
For more information on E911 services, see "VoIP Firms Don't Answer FCC's 911 Call."
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