 calvoiper
join:2003-03-31
Belvedere Tiburon, CA | reply to MrY
Re: VoIP is not that good 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! |
