e911

[rampage]

Hi, I have a question maybe someone can answer about e911 service.

Every other VOip service charges a monthly fee for e911 services. Why is there none with freephoneline.ca?

The website says they do NOT have e911 http://freephoneline.ca/911

However some of the support says that they DO have it.

Does anyone know the real answer? I do not mind paying for it as I want the service, I do not want to get some call center if I have an emergency. For now I am using a different voip provider until I get an answer about the e911.

I just don't see why they would offer it for free when there seems to be a real monthly charge, some place charge 80 cents a month and up. And by e911 I mean that a 911 call will go direct to your local emergency dispatch center.


Thanks

[tbrummell]

They do not have E911, as in, your address & call will be passed to the nearest PSAP to your reported location.

What they do have, is an intermediate, 3rd party answering company, which will then confirm your physical location and transfer your call to the appropriate PSAP for your location. I believe the answering company is Northern 911.

[rampage]

Yes, that is exactly what I wanted to know. They told me that freephoneline.ca DOES support e911 and it is free, but I suspect maybe this is not the case.

[tbrummell]

Or, their definition of "E911" is vague.

Unless of course the service has changed in the past couple of years of me being a customer. And no, I've never dialed 911 on my FPL line.

[tbrummell]

http://www.freephoneline.ca/911

Freephoneline offers a form of 9-1-1 service that is similar to traditional 9-1-1 service but has some important differences and limitations when compared with enhanced 9-1-1 service (E911) available in most locations in conjunction with traditional telephone service.

Non-Availability of Traditional 911 or E911 Dialing Service

With both traditional 9-1-1 and E911 service, your call is sent directly to the nearest emergency response centre. In addition, with E911 service, your call back number and address are visible to the emergency response centre call-taker. With freephoneline your call is being sent via the Internet rather than a traditional phone line, and the most up to date client information may not arrive with this call, meaning a different method is required to send this client information accurately. With freephoneline service the 9-1-1 call may be routed to a different dispatcher than that used for traditional 9-1-1 dialing. The dispatcher will be located at either the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) or with a local emergency service relay provider designated for the address specified by the customer at the time of service subscription or as properly updated by the customer from time to time. The call centre operator will confirm your location information and then transfer your 9-1-1 call to the emergency response centre nearest your location. You should be prepared to confirm your address and call-back number with the operator as this information may not be available to them. You are encouraged not to hang up until told to do so, and to call back if you get disconnected, as immediately as possible.

[tbrummell]

It seems they are "confused" about what E911 really means, but is that really surprising anyone?

http://www.fongo.com/legal/911/

[rampage]

Yes, I have written and asked for some clarification but no response. If it is available I would pay extra for it but so far they don't really even seem to know if they have it or not. Until then I am sticking with the 'other guys' Not that I have ever called 911 but I do believe it is a worthwhile service and every second counts in an emergency.

Anyone from FPL or Fongo around to answer?

[maximebeauvais]

Is this being updated since last post?

Could someone from FPL answer this since it very critical and like others said every second count.

If I call 911 and a call center forward my call to an other call center and if they are not able to see my address then ''houston we have a problem''

I'm pretty that at one point, 911 will get my call and send someone but if it's take 1-2-3 min to get my address or to finally talk to someone in 911, that's mean I lost precious time.

Is it the same way with mobile phone?

[bridonca]

This is my personal opinion, and I am not in the know on what goes on at Fongo. I do have a few clues about VOIP in general though.

911 through VOIP is not an optimal solution. VOIP though public internet lines is just not reliable enough. If you believe you will need 911, you should have a secondary phone like a cell phone or land line and use that first. You do not even need a working cell phone account to access 911 through a cell phone, so make that available.

Saying that, if you do use 911 through Fongo, the call will go directly to the Northern 911 call center. The Northern 911 call center should get your current address from your Fongo phone number because you had to fill it in to get Fongo service. Because Northern 911 has your address from your phone number, Northern 911 should be able to directly access the appropriate emergency service just as quickly as a cell phone or land line telco can.


Because of how transitory VOIP can be, there is a good chance that your service is no where near your address. That is an instance where 911 though VOIP can fail. I remember Comwave, another VOIP provider, actually have that problem a few years ago. The client did not update their 911 address, and the Comwave 911 call center sent the emergency vehicles to the old address. I do not think there is a good solution to this problem either. Just try to make sure the VOIP service is in the same address as stated.