[Asterisk-Users] Re: 911 and lawsuits and redundancy

[Adthrawn]

Hi,

Most companies we work with, have 'designated' crisis management teams. 
These vary from the insignificant crisis', through to life-threatening 
crisis'. There is always an assigned emergency services contact, whose 
job it is in an emergency, to maintain communication with the emergency 
services.

One of our corporate functions is crisis management - so we have to 
consider the global repercussions and the ultra-fine detail at the same 
time. From considering overall redundancy of the phone system, down to 
the tiny, but significant detail - like "the phone system caused the 
fire"... Basically, taking the worse case scenario, and making it 
worse.

At the very least, we always ensure that there is at least one PSTN 
line that is run through armored trunking to an analogue phone in a 
fire-proof cabinet. Simply put, a classic Hollywood style "red phone" 
with one button and a giant red flashing light. (Okay, full keypad and 
no flashing light, but you get the idea).

The reality is, that 999 or 911 redundancy has nothing to do with the 
phone system per-say, it's down to the crisis procedures of the 
company. Think of it this way; what happens if a fire breaks out on a 
large plant? First, you'd have the staff who found it phoning emergency 
services. Next, you'll have the security office phoning the emergency 
services... Next, staff in the nearest office are likely to phone the 
emergency services, not to mention lorry drivers or forklift drivers on 
their mobiles!

On top of this, in most places that a crisis would occur, there is 
little possibility of installing phones - period. Most plants rely on 
mobiles, walkie-talkie or DECT phones. The number of armored cables 
I've seen ripped in half, or optical spurs that have been cut by 
diggers - VoIP and traditional PBX's have no coverage of these areas - 
forget redundancy!

So at this point, the emergency services have been contact about the 
crisis three or four times... Possibly three or four addresses, 
depending on the registration of the phone itself. What if the fire 
brigade need to know what special equipment to bring? Chemicals to deal 
with? They'll phone the company, and will probably get a confused 
receptionist... She's been answering calls all day - she doesn't know 
there's a fire on a production line on the other side of the plant.

Now, with a crisis plan, the following would happen. In an emergency, 
the person discovering it would contact the crisis manager, or one of 
his/her subordinates. If it's a major emergency, then the person 
discovering this may have had to call the emergency services first. 
Nonetheless, this is all reported to the crisis manager. The crisis 
manager does a number of things, one of which is to be the crisis 
manager. Sound bizarre? Well, no. Their job, is partly to be a central 
point of communication. Any calls coming in regarding emergencies will 
be patched directly to this person. In the event of phone system 
failures or major disasters, then the person will have an emergency 
phone on which to call out on.

It's actually more dangerous to empower people in an emergency, then it 
is to reduce the number of people involved, and to tightly control the 
situation.

If anybody is interested in crisis management, or looking at ways of 
legally solving this problem, then let me know

Best,
Ad.


On 6 Jan 2004, at 6:35 pm, asterisk-users-request at lists.digium.com 
wrote:

> Message: 7
> From: "Jim Flagg" <flaggj at comcast.net>
> To: <asterisk-users at lists.digium.com>
> Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] 911 and lawsuits and redundancy
> Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2004 13:06:34 -0500
> Reply-To: asterisk-users at lists.digium.com
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jonathan Moore" <moorejon at usd465.com>
> To: <asterisk-users at lists.digium.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, January 06, 2004 12:34 PM
> Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] 911 and lawsuits and redundancy
>
>
>> This is esp true of any VoIP PBX system. In fact I think many of them 
>> run Windows.
>>
>
> Or VOIP in general.  This is what Vonage makes you agree to in their 
> Terms of Service.
>
> "2.4 Requires Activation:
> You acknowledge and understand that 911 dialing does not function 
> unless you have successfully activated the 911dialing feature by
> following the instructions from the "Dial 911" link on your dashboard, 
> and until such later date that such activation has been
> confirmed to you through a confirming email.  You acknowledge and 
> understand that you cannot dial 911 from this line unless and
> until you have received a confirming email.
>
> 2.5 Failure to Designate the Correct Physical Address When Activating 
> 911 Dialing:
> Failure to provide the current and correct physical address and 
> location of your Vonage equipment will result in any 911
> communication you may make being routed to the incorrect local 
> emergency service provider.
>
> 2.6 Requires Re-Activation if You Change Your Number:
> You acknowledge and understand that 911 dialing does not function if 
> you change your phone number unless and until you have
> successfully activated the 911 dialing feature following the 
> instructions from the "Dial 911" link on your dashboard, and until 
> such
> later date that such activation has been confirmed to you through a 
> confirming email.  911 dialing must be re-activated.  Although
> you may have activated 911 dialing with your former Vonage phone 
> number, you must separately activate 911 dialing for any new
> number.
>
> 2.7 Change of Physical Location of Vonage Equipment:
> You acknowledge and understand that 911dialing does not function 
> properly or may not function at all if you take your equipment with
> you away from the address or physical location that you have 
> designated.
>
> 2.8 Requires Re-Activation if You Move:
> You acknowledge and understand that 911 dialing does not function 
> properly or at all if you move or change the physical location of
> your Vonage equipment to a different street address, unless and until 
> you have successfully activated the 911 dialing feature
> following the instructions from the "Dial 911" link on your dashboard, 
> and until such later date that such activation has been
> confirmed to you through a confirming email.  911dialing must be 
> re-activated although you may have activated 911 dialing using your
> former address, and you must separately activate 911 dialing for any 
> new physical address.  Failure to provide the current and
> correct physical address and location of your Vonage equipment will 
> result in any 911 dialing you may make being routed to the
> incorrect local emergency service provider
>
> 2.9 Possibility of Network Congestion and/or Reduced Speed for Routing 
> 911:
> Due to the manner in which it is technically possible to provide the 
> 911 dialing feature for Vonage DigitalVoice at this time, you
> acknowledge and understand that there is a greater possibility of 
> network congestion and/or reduced speed in the routing of a 911
> communication made utilizing your Vonage equipment as compared to 
> traditional 911 dialing over traditional public telephone
> networks.  You acknowledge and understand that 911 dialing from your 
> Vonage equipment will be routed to the general telephone number
> for the local emergency service provider, and will not be routed to 
> the 911 dispatcher(s) who are specifically designated to receive
> incoming 911 calls at such local provider's facilities when such calls 
> are routed using traditional 911 dialing.  You acknowledge
> and understand that there may be a greater possibility that the 
> general telephone number for the local emergency service provider
> will produce a busy signal or will take longer to answer, as compared 
> to those 911 calls routed to the 911 dispatcher(s) who are
> specifically designated to receive incoming 911 calls using 
> traditional 911 dialing.
>
> 2.10 Automated Number Identification:
> At this time in the technical development of Vonage 911 dialing, it 
> may or may not be possible for the Public Safety Answering Point
> (PSAP) and the local emergency personnel to identify your phone number 
> when you dial 911.  Vonage's system is configured in most
> instances to send the automated number identification information; 
> however, the phone system routes the traffic to  the PSAP and the
> PSAP itself must be able to receive the information and pass it along 
> properly, and they are not yet always technically capable of
> doing so.  You acknowledge and understand that PSAP and emergency 
> personnel may or may not be able to identify your phone number in
> order to call you back if the call is unable to be completed, is 
> dropped or disconnected, or if you are unable to speak to tell them
> your phone number and/or if the Service is not operational for any 
> reason, including without limitation those listed elsewhere in
> this Agreement.
>
> 2.11 Automated Location Identification:
> At this time in the technical development of Vonage 911 Dialing, it is 
> not possible to transmit identification of the address that
> you have listed to the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) and local 
> emergency personnel for your area when you dial 911.  You
> acknowledge and understand that you will need to state the nature of 
> your emergency promptly and clearly, including your location,
> as PSAP personnel will NOT have this information.  You acknowledge and 
> understand that PSAP and emergency personnel will not be able
> to find your location if the call is unable to be completed, is 
> dropped or disconnected, if you are unable to speak to tell them
> your location and/or if the Service is not operational for any reason, 
> including without limitation those listed elsewhere in this
> Agreement.
>
> 2.12 Alternative 911 Arrangements
> You acknowledge that Vonage does not offer primary line or lifeline 
> services. You should always have an alternative means of
> accessing traditional E911 services."