Emergency Communications
What You Need to Know About 911 and VoIP
What to Ask?
- Does the offer include 9-1-1 service?
- If the provider claims to provide 9-1-1 service, ask whether 9-1-1 calls are routed to dedicated 9-1-1 lines.
- If not, ask the provider if they connect to 9-1-1 through a non-emergency ten-digit line. If so, then your call will not be given the same priority as a traditional 9-1-1 call and your address and phone number are NOT received at the 9-1-1 Center.
- Can you take your telephone and telephone number to any location with a broadband connection? If so, it will be very important for you to update you location information every time you are somewhere new, and this does not guarantee that you will be connected to the correct 9-1-1 Center for your current location.
- Will your VoIP service look like a regular phone? If so, will you be able to make sure children, babysitters, and visitors know the address in the event of an emergency?
- If you have an alarm system, will your system be able to notify the alarm company in the event of a power outage? Broadband connections are dependant on power and power back ups, where wire lines are not.
- How often are voice conversations dropped? What is the overall quality? When calling 9-1-1 it is important that ALL the voice data be delivered. If voice data is dropped when you are giving information to the 9-1-1 operator it could result in the operator not getting the correct or complete address or life saving information.
- Will you be required to pay extra to receive 9-1-1 service? Wire line and cellular telephones collect and remit a surcharge to fund the technology needed for 9-1-1 centers. VoIP providers may or may not be collecting and remitting this surcharge, or may be collecting additional fees.
911 and VoIP
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What do you need for VoIP?
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What is VoIP?
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What to Ask?
Emergency 911
911 Administration and Addressing
Frequent Questions
Not able to find the information you're looking for somewhere on our site? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions listing for answers to queries we commonly receive.
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