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 calvoiper
join:2003-03-31
Belvedere Tiburon, CA | reply to DaveDude
Re: VoIP is not that good SHEESH!
The EU can't even get together on a common emergency number--let alone the rest of the world.
And we wonder why some folks think the UN is pointless?
calvoiper
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VoIP--the death knell of remaining voice monopolies! | | |
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| Sweden switched to 112 a few years back to be compliant with the "European standard" of 112.
So as long as the UK is also compliant, and I'm sure it is, it is 112. | |
calvoiper
join:2003-03-31
Belvedere Tiburon, CA | Well, according to the website linked to above, France is "17", Spain is "532", and the UK is "999".
Maybe they should work on this first, and a "Constitution" later.
calvoiper
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VoIP--the death knell of remaining voice monopolies! | |
MrY
join:2005-05-24
Ireland | The UK never used 911!
The 999 service was rolled out in the UK and Ireland in the 1930s and is the worlds first and longest running emergency services number.
To make life simple in Europe, 112 was introduced some years ago as a pan-european universal emergency services number. It did not replace the existing national numbers, but simply mirrors them. There was no question of abolishing 999 or the other European numbers, just introducing a new code that everyone could use everywhere.
112 will also work on any GSM mobile phone worldwide.
It will also override the keypad lock, sim lock and in many cases you can even make a 112 call on a GSM phone (in europe anyway) without a sim card, a valid network etc. It will just find a signal and place the call.
As for the requirement to implement 911 on VoIP in the USA. I can see no reason why it's a massive technical hurdle. All they need to do is route calls to 911 into the correct emergency centre. We're talking software changes here, not ripping out and replacing entire networks.
I could see there being a similar problem in Europe, with a requirement to have 112 and the old national emergency codes carried on all public networks.
All of the small phone companies and cable companies and cellular operators have had to comply with this for years, I don't see why VoIP companies should be any exception.
I mean, who cares wheather the data coming out of your phone's going over an analogue voice line, an ISDN line, a VoIP line. As far as the end user's concerned it's still a phone. The technology behind it shouldn't matter!
So, if VoIP is to become mainstream I would think it should behave just like any other phone service.
Sounds to me more like vondage and others just didn't think of this snag when they were designing their networks in the first place!
If they don't fix it, they'll just go bust and you'll find new VoIP companies who do support it will take their place.
It's all a big fuss about nothing! | |
calvoiper
join:2003-03-31
Belvedere Tiburon, CA | said by MrY:... As for the requirement to implement 911 on VoIP in the USA. I can see no reason why it's a massive technical hurdle. All they need to do is route calls to 911 into the correct emergency centre. We're talking software changes here, not ripping out and replacing entire networks. ... No, we're not talking only about software changes here.
First, the VoIP provider has to "know" where the user is. Unlike landline, there is no hardwire link to one place. Unlike cellular, there is no possibility of triangulation between different cell sites. GPS doesn't work well indoors, which is where most VoIP users are. You're then left with "user entry" of a location, which works OK for your home but not well if you move and forget to change, or if you're on the road. When is the last time you stayed in an airport Holiday Inn and knew it's street address? If you were outside Chicago or San Francisco, I doubt you even knew what town you were in.
Second, this requirement applies whether or not the VoIP provider transmits location info, because there are hundreds, if not thousands, of emergency answering centers (a/k/a "PSAPs") nationwide and you have to send it to the right one.
Third, you seem to think that the VoIP provider can just "dial" the appropriate PSAP. In many cases this is possible, but the dial up numbers don't carry the location information AND the FCC has indicated that the connections must be made through traditional PSAP connections--meaning some kind of network connection to hundreds of centers nationwide.
Believe me, if this was as trivial as you seem to think it is, it would have been done long ago.
calvoiper
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VoIP--the death knell of remaining voice monopolies! | |
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