NoVA_CoxUser
Stand back from the cage -- The RF bites
Premium
join:2004-07-06
Alexandria, VA
 ·Cox HSI
3 edits | reply to schweb
Re: [ALL] Digital Phone Update
Don't have any info on future roll-out plans (Cox is always pretty tight-lipped about future plans) but here is the rate info for my area: »www.cox.com/Fairfax/Telephone/rates.asp
Don't know how those rates compare with other Cox areas, but compared to Verizon in this area it's VERY cost/feature competitive. |
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schweb
Premium
join:2003-06-27
Lakewood, OH
| The problem is that if it's a VoIP service, they're way over priced. $49.99 for VoIP is ridiculous, especially with the lack of VoIP features that other companies have.
For example I used AT&T CallVantage for $29.99/month I get all that and more features. And AT&T is on the high side for VoIP companies. I guess I just don't understand why cable operated VoIP needs to be so expensive.
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bryan | website |
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BillRoland
Premium
join:2001-01-21
Ocala, FL
clubs:
·Cox HSI
| reply to NoVA_CoxUser
said by NoVA_CoxUser  :Bill: Please re-read my post ... I know Cox is a CLEC and that they DO provide full E911 functionality ... ... my point was that I think Vonage and other VoIP providers could "technically" provide this same E911 service if they wanted to (at least in areas where they have local phone #s) ... albeit with an increased operating cost ... ... couldn't they? The answer to this is fairly easy. For E911 to work, you have to have access to the dedicated E911 trunks. The problem with many VoIP carriers is that they are a third party using a third party, that is to say, Vonage buys numbers from Focal, which buys them from the ILEC. The VoIP carriers themselves are not CLECs, they are renting services from CLECs. Therefore Vonage and everyone else are at the mercy of their CLEC. To date, it seems only Level3 is providing VoIP carriers the ability to get to the E911 trunks (that's who Packet8, who offers E911 in some but not all markets, uses). Cox's Digital Telephone product is limited to your home; they always know where you are. Not so with the VoIP carriers, you could pack up your ATA and move across America. That is probably the single biggest challenge facing their E911 plans: how do you know where the ATA is? Cox never has to contend with this. So I guess the long answer to your question is that indeed E911 with the "other" VoIP carriers is possible, indeed it is being done by at least Packet8 and probably others that I'm not familiar with. The main problems they have are that they have to get it thru a third party to begin with, and secondly, they have no earthly idea where you might be at any given moment. Cox doesn't have to deal with any of these problems.
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"Don't steal. The government hates competition." |
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BillRoland
Premium
join:2001-01-21
Ocala, FL
clubs:
·Cox HSI
| reply to schweb
said by schweb :The problem is that if it's a VoIP service, they're way over priced. $49.99 for VoIP is ridiculous, especially with the lack of VoIP features that other companies have. For example I used AT&T CallVantage for $29.99/month I get all that and more features. And AT&T is on the high side for VoIP companies. I guess I just don't understand why cable operated VoIP needs to be so expensive. Because its not a "best effort" service like CallVantage is. Again, NoVA_CoxUser has summed it up very nicely; VoIP is only a transport medium from your house to your cable headend. That that point, the VoIP equation is over. Cable operators can control this portion of their network with ease, and with QoS built into the PacketCable standard, the VoIP traffic is always going to arrive. Also please remember that this service is billed as a replacement to your POTS line, and is subject to some regulation (they have to have backup generators in the cable plant, the 5 nines of POTS reliability, E911, all those goodies). The reason Cox can offer it cheaper than a telco is because, if I recall, they are not subject to some of the taxes and overhead that telco's are.
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"Don't steal. The government hates competition." |
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cob_
1310nm Of Goodness
Premium
join:2003-07-08
Tulsa, OK | reply to BillRoland
Well, I can tell you that here in Tulsa, Vonage uses the CLEC KMC Telecom, and one would think they've established E-911 trunks with the ILECs in the area. |
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NoVA_CoxUser
Stand back from the cage -- The RF bites
Premium
join:2004-07-06
Alexandria, VA
·Cox HSI
4 edits | said by cob_ :... here in Tulsa, Vonage uses the CLEC KMC Telecom, and one would think they've established E-911 trunks with the ILECs in the area ... On first blush, one might tend to agree with you, but Vonage's 911 Info Page still reads:
Your Call Will Go To A General Access Line at the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). This is different from the 911 Emergency Response Center where traditional 911 calls go.
This means your call goes to a different phone number than traditional 911 calls. Also, you will need to state the nature of your emergency promptly and clearly, including your location and telephone number, as Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) personnel will NOT have this information on hand. It's also much more technically involved to provide integrated E911 location data to the PSAP than it is to simply forward a voice call to a particular phone #.
So ... does Vonage maybe have different 911 setups in areas where they have established local rate center phone numbers (and potential local access to E911 trunks) so as to be able to provide FULL E911 functionality ...
... or are all Vonage's 911 calls simply routed to the appropriate "PSAP general #" for their geographic area -- w/o the amplifying location data -- as the web site states ... ? |
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digiblur
Got Sipura?
Premium
join:2002-06-03
Louisiana
| reply to NoVA_CoxUser
Vonage is not currently one of the providers that will "transmit" your data to the PSAP. There are only a few that will at this time.... there have been several 911 discussions in the VoIP forum.
I use the free solution.... BellSouth provides a 911-only line in my home free of charge.
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FWD#64466 - »[Sipura] Make your Sipura Speak! - Step by Step |
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cob_
1310nm Of Goodness
Premium
join:2003-07-08
Tulsa, OK | reply to NoVA_CoxUser
NoVA_CoxUser, what I'm asking is why Vonage cannot provide E911 service if KMC has the trunks.
digiblur, I've been following that conversation and it seems kind of sparse, hard to tell without all of us test calling 911. |
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NoVA_CoxUser
Stand back from the cage -- The RF bites
Premium
join:2004-07-06
Alexandria, VA
·Cox HSI
4 edits | said by cob_ : ... what I'm asking is why Vonage cannot provide E911 service if KMC has the trunks ... To expand on BillRoland 's informative post above: »[ALL] Digital Phone Update ...
... I suspect the answer is that they probably could, but it involves a lot more than just routing the voice call.
The basic requirement is to make the voice call and the location data all come together simultaneously at the E911 dispatcher's workstation -- and be fully integrated into the PSAP's data system.
Making this happen with high reliably -- and fast enough -- takes quite a bit of engineering, hardware/software, testing, and of course $$$. Making it happen by a company who doesn't have a physical presence in the local area is likely even harder (and more expensive).
See page 11 of following online document (PowerPoint presentation) for a high-level E911 architecture.
Most 3rd party VoIP providers have made a business decision to not provide this level of service and pass-on the cost savings to their customers as less-expensive service. MSOs -- being regulated telcos -- don't have a choice, they have to provide the service. |
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