The FCC ruled in May that carriers, which sell telephone service based on VoIP, must provide enhanced 911 (E911) within four months of the FCC ruling. According to industry research, there are over one million customers using Voice over IP (VoIP) in the United States. Vonage with 650,000 customers and cable providers have the largest share of these customers. Earlier rulings required traditional telephone service providers to provide E911.

Enhanced 911 (E911)
E911 refers to the capability for agents who answer 911 calls to receive a caller's phone number and location. Thus, if someone dials 911 and is too debilitated to speak, emergency responders will know how to reach the caller and have their address for dispatching fire, police, or medical personnel.

VoIP E911 Challenges
VoIP services from providers such as Vonage, Packet8 and Verizon's VoiceWing have the following features, which E911 needs to address:

• Some VoIP customers use non-local telephone numbers. For example, a customer in Montana may select a New York City telephone number.
• Many VoIP services offer mobility. These customers might call 911 from their primary address as well as from hotels and other remote sites where they have Internet access.

Cable companies offer E911 as part of their VoIP based services, but do not provide mobility or non-local phone numbers.

E911: A Costly Endeavor
Access to E911 is costly for carriers. It requires dedicated links to 400 to 500 nationwide telephone company routers that in turn connect calls to specialized databases and public safety access points (PSAPs) that answer 911 calls. Cable companies and small carriers often outsource E911 to a third party such as Level 3. The third party negotiates leasing arrangements with telephone companies nationwide and provides links to their E911 connected switches.

VoIP Connections to E911 Service
After a caller dials 911, the following will occur:

1. A pseudo local telephone number generated for each call will be transmitted over dedicated links to the incumbent telephone company.
2. The local telco will route the call to the correct PSAP based on the pseudo number.
3. The public safety answering point (PSAP) will automatically query a database designed for VoIP traffic for the user's registered location and true call back number.

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The Net Effect

• Reliable connections to E911 service will increase VoIP functionality.
• Expenses for E911 connections will increase barriers to market entry for VoIP providers.
• Costs will likely be passed on to consumers.
• The FCC order did not include computer-to-computer services that do not interconnect to the public switched telephone network. Most Skype service is in this category.
• E911 will only work from the one address each customer gives his or her VoIP provider.
• The industry is working out a standard for a secure, mobile solution for E911 operable from multiple locations per customer.