[Asterisk-Users] 911 emergency service and VoIP

[Brett Nemeroff]

Joe,
This is highly implementation specific. Perhaps I can give you some
pointers to help you out. BTW, if you just happen to be in Texas, I can
provide you with a list.
"Regular" 911 calls are answered by a PSAP. Voip calls also goto a PSAP,
but are handled differently. In fact, in most regions there aren't clear
ways of handling these calls as of yet.

Here are some pointers.
1. Do NOT call the PSAP. They are very busy, and in general are the
WRONG organization to contact. Instead you want the "911 Agency" for the
area you are to serve. This is either a "Council Of Governments" or an
"Emergency Communications District" depending on when it was formed. For
example, here in Houston, the 911 Agency just happens to be the "Harris
County ECD". The Houston 911 Agency's website is (coincidential)
http://www.911.org You must MUST start with them before you do ANYTHING
911. Certifications are required. http://www.nena.org is a good starting
point.. Use "search"
2. If you are going to do 911, you must send LOCATION (ie: address)
information to the 911 database. I do this through Intrado
http://www.intrado.com through a product called "data exchange"
3. Depending on your connectivity, understand that the 911 agency and
PSAP don't care what technology you use to connect to your customer. So
if you can provide ANI, you are pretty much good to go. 
4. For what it's worth; my traditional VoIP service offering will
deliver 911 calls in the indentical manner as my non VoIP calls. 

If you'd like to talk specifics I can help you but I'd have to request
that we take it off list since I feel that it is outside of the scope of
the list. You can reach me at brett at utex.net
-Brett

-----Original Message-----
From: asterisk-users-admin at lists.digium.com
[mailto:asterisk-users-admin at lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Joe Baptista
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2004 8:35 PM
To: asterisk-users at lists.digium.com
Subject: [Asterisk-Users] 911 emergency service and VoIP



I understand that most VoIP providers allow for 911 calling but that 911
service is not the same as that available to PSTN.