[Asterisk-biz] Tossing out an idea for 911 - your thoughts and comments please.

[Jamie Fargen]

Jason,
I was just reading today that Verizon is going to open it's 911 
operations to VOIP providers. Since Vz is operating its own VOIP service 
called VoiceWing this just makes sense. I doubt that they would be able 
to allow their own VOIP product to have access to 911 and not make it 
available to everyone else. I am not a lawyer but it seems like it would 
be breaking some kind of anti-competition laws, probably is an 
anti-trust issue. And lets face it with Vz trying to purchase MCI they 
don't want it to look like they are doing anything anti-cooperative. So 
I figure that if the largest bell, ilec, what have is opening up 911 the 
others will be soon to follow. From the article it's a small step, but I 
am sure everything will fall together soon enough.


Here is the link for the article I was refering too: 
http://news.com.com/Biggest+Bell+to+hand+911+access+to+VoIP+operators/2100-7352_3-5685250.html?tag=sas.email

Jamie

Jason Brown wrote:

>It is my understanding that Vonage and all the big guys are using 911 call centers for this...I know L3 has a big one that simply serves to take inbound 911 calls and the operator calls the appropriate agency - does anyone know the accuracy of this?
>
>Anyway, my idea is to start a not-for profit company to create a 911 call center. I am meeting with a person who owns a call center here in Florida who may be interested. My idea is really simple:
>
>A monthly fee to maintain the app that will be developed to facilitate taking 911 calls - and chip in on paying employees.
>
>A per use charge for each 911 call that has to be taken, and the operator facilitating an emergency call.
>
>OnStar does the same basic thing - you ring an emergency call and they simply get the appropriate agency on the phone based on your GPS locator in the car. Alarm companies do the same thing - your alarm doesn't ring up 911 directly.
>
>What we need is:
>
>A web portal that allow us to update customer locator information to the app that runs when a call goes through.
>An 800 number to the call center.
>Your VoIP servers of course must pass the correct outbound caller ID number.
>The call center adds a CIDname somthing like EMERGENCY DISPATCH CALL for calls inbound to the 800 number for the call taker.
>The caller ID number associated with the call tells the operator on screen what is the phone number to the appropriate authorities, i.e. a caller ID number associated with locator info provided by VoIP company A brings up a list of Fire, Police, Parademic emergency numbers for the operator to dial automatically.
>
>Now about cost:
>
>In the early days, when I was in the Budget process I went to a provider that my PRI provider recommended, OM2Tech. They initially quoted me 250.00 setup, and 250.00 min monthly and .25 per DID after. That turned out to be a farce, since BellSouth and Intrado decided to keep wraps on their local monopoly.
>
>Intrado wants 4500.00 setup, and 3500.00 min monthly to provide 911 service. If they get a call that cannot be routed, they charge you 85.00 per call that their call center has to route.
>
>I am thinking a hybrid model. What if we could get a call center to do this for 250.00 per month and charge us 100.00 per call that they have to route?
>
>I would take this solution in a heartbeat. If the customer makes a bogus 911 call, they get a bill - but in the interest of public safety I would not care about paying 100 bucks for a single 911 call to be routed properly and quickly.
>
>I welcome everyone's thoughts and possible interest in this scenario. I could get it up and running in as little as 2 or 3 weeks from what I am being told.
>
>Jason
>
>  
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>_______________________________________________
>Asterisk-Biz mailing list
>Asterisk-Biz at lists.digium.com
>http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-biz
>  
>