TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: New Technology Brings Back Old Problem For 911

New Technology Brings Back Old Problem For 911

Jack Decker (jack-yahoogroups@withheld)
Thu, 31 Mar 2005 14:18:02 -0500

http://www.sooeveningnews.com/articles/2005/03/31/news/news582.txt

By SCOTT BRAND/The Evening News

EASTERN UPPER PENINSULA - New technology threatens to bring old
problems back to local residents as Voice Over Internet Phone service
(VOIP) may be unable to connect residents with their local central
dispatch systems in times of emergency.

"What we want to make people aware of is they are not able to access
911 like you can on a traditional phone," said Mackinac County 911
Coordinator Pam Matelski. "The dispatch center will not get your
information."

In Chippewa County, callers should not have difficulty reaching 911
while utilizing the new system.

"It's an issue and we are on top of it," said Chippewa County Central
Dispatch Director Tim McKee. "We have done what we need to do to
insure VOIP calls are directed to the appropriate administrative
line."

Unlike Luce and Mackinac counties, which go through the Regional 911
Dispatch Center in Negaunee, Chippewa County has the advantage of
housing its emergency and administrative offices inside the same
building. As a result, 911 calls over the VOIP boxes can be directed
to the county's administrative line and, from there, quickly channeled
on to the dispatchers in the next room.

To date, Vonage is the only company that appears to be offering this
new phone service in the Eastern Upper Peninsula. [COMMENT: Actually,
that is not true. Viewed one way, any major VoIP provider can be used
from anywhere broadband service is available, including the Eastern
Upper Peninsula. However, at the present time, only VoicePulse and
Broadvoice offer numbers in the Upper Peninsula - in contrast, if you
go to Vonage's site and do a search on the 906 area code, it returns
"No Area Codes Available" (which probably really means no ratecenters
are available).]

Full story at:
http://www.sooeveningnews.com/articles/2005/03/31/news/news582.txt

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