Voice over Internet (VoIP) Calls to 9-1-1
Many people opt to use "Voice over Internet Protocol," commonly known as VoIP, service providers for their telephone needs. Internet providers (such as Century Link, Comcast, or Wave) and VoIP providers (Vonage, among these) offer this alternative to landline-based telephone calling. A basic understanding of VoIP may be found in the article "How VoIP Works" on the HowStuffWorks.com website; in this article, authors Robert Valdes and Dave Roos explain that VoIP is "a method for taking analog audio signals, like the kind you hear when you talk on the phone, and turning them into digital data that can be transmitted over the Internet...VoIP can turn a standard Intenet connection into a way to place free phone calls...bypassing [a] phone company (and its charges) entirely."
Yet not all VoIP service providers provide access to 9-1-1 emergency services and, according to the State of Washington's Emergency Management Division's publication "Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Users and 9-1-1 Call Concerns," people must know what to expect from their service providers before an emergency happens:consumers must know the 9-1-1 capabilities before using a VoIP service provider. Here are two crucial things to consider before relying on VoIP for your in-home phone service:
1) Will my name, address, and call-back number be automatically provided to the 9-1-1 center?
2) Will my 9-1-1 call be sent to the answering center that responds to emergency calls in my community?
Additional information about VoIP and 9-1-1 calls may be found on the State of Washington's Emergency Management Division website at www.emd.wa.gov.
Yet not all VoIP service providers provide access to 9-1-1 emergency services and, according to the State of Washington's Emergency Management Division's publication "Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Users and 9-1-1 Call Concerns," people must know what to expect from their service providers before an emergency happens:consumers must know the 9-1-1 capabilities before using a VoIP service provider. Here are two crucial things to consider before relying on VoIP for your in-home phone service:
1) Will my name, address, and call-back number be automatically provided to the 9-1-1 center?
2) Will my 9-1-1 call be sent to the answering center that responds to emergency calls in my community?
Additional information about VoIP and 9-1-1 calls may be found on the State of Washington's Emergency Management Division website at www.emd.wa.gov.