[asterisk-biz] VoIP 9-1-1 failure - don't let it happen to you

[Drew Gibson]

Trevor Peirce wrote:
> Drew Gibson wrote:
>   
>> We have a clash between the POTS model where the address for the phone 
>> number is inseparable from the 911 address (and your bellco took care 
>> of the details) and the VoIP model where there is little or no 
>> physical connection between the two and there is now some 
>> responsibility on the part of the customer to keep this up to date.
>>
>> How do the current 911 service offerings address this?
>>     
>
> VoIP 911 "9-1-1 Do you need Police, Fire, or Ambulance?"
> Caller "Ambulance"
> VoIP 911 "Is your current address 555 Your Street in Big Town, Ontario?"
> Caller "No - it's 444 New Street in Other Town, Alberta"
>   
<-----SNIP ----->

> The VoIP 911 dispatcher remains on the line to ensure the call completes 
> properly and is connected to the correct local dispatch centre.
>
>   

Yes, this is how it works on paper, and 98% of the time in real life

> The only time the registered address is used on it's own without 
> confirmation from the caller is when the caller hangs up, cannot speak, 
> or can't remember their address.  In this case the local Police are 
> dispatched and it becomes their problem to follow up and determine if 
> there is an emergency or not.
>   

This call was one of the marginal cases and this is the question I was 
trying to ask. As with most emergencies, this situation was created by a 
combination of failures.

Rightly or wrongly the current situation is that...

1. The customer expects the Telco to take care of 911 entirely, as they 
always have in the past.

2. The VoIP provider expects the customer to update their 911 address, 
as the provider cannot strictly control location (except the cable 
providers such as Shaw Cable, through which the ambulance was correctly 
dispatched)

I'll leave it to the lawyers to apportion blame but, in the mean time, 
how is this disconnect being addressed by VoIP and 911 service providers?

regards,

Drew
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