The ultimate E911 compliance test: Dial

One of the ongoing concerns with VoIP has been the ability of service providers to effectively deliver a 911 call to the appropriate authorities. In an ideal world a VoIP-transported 911 call should go directly to the closest public safety access point (PSAP) and display both the phone number you are using as well as the location of the phone.

Public safety officials in Lee County, Fla. have come up with a quick and easy way for VoIP subscribers to verify their 911 service should work as defined: Call them. Specifically, Lee County Public Safety is asking people with VoIP service to set up an appointment to test their service to see if 911 works as advertised. Users have to call the County 911 program manager on his (non-911) phone line to schedule a time for a trial call, then call 911 at the specified time to verify both caller ID information and address associated with the phone number.

Testing has been going on for a few weeks, but so far only a few test calls a day have taken place. Officials would prefer "thousands" of test calls, since anywhere from 2 percent to 20 percent of VoIP services may either not have 911 functioning correctly or may have the wrong address with the registered phone number. Neither Vonage nor Comcast will tell officials how many customers they have; public safety officials estimate the two providers have 3,000 or more subscribers in Lee County.

For more:
- Lee County News-press Com 911 Testing [1] article

Related articles:
e911 bill provides VoIP liability protection [2]
House gives nod to VoIP E911 [3]
FCC clarifies e911 accuracy requirements [4]