Telephones have long been a way to get help in an emergency. All anyone has to do is pick up the phone and dial 911 and help will soon be on the way. Unfortunately, if you decide to subscribe Vonage and make phone calls via the Internet, getting help might not be so easy. In order to provide reliable 911 services to everyone, Vonage needs help from traditional phone companies, but some are refusing to cooperate.
If you haven't seen the commercials and heard the annoying "Woo Hoo" music, Vonage is a company that offers phone service through a boradband Internet connection. People choose Vonage for their phone service because it costs less than traditional phone services. However, with Vonage, customers don't get ormal 911 service in some cases.
According to vonage.com, current customers are able to get help in an emergency through basic 911 access, an enhanced 911 service called E911 or access to the Vonage national emergency call center. With E911 and basic 911, anyone in an emergency is connected directly to a local emergency center. For customers who don't have access to enhanced or basic 911 because of their locations, an operator at the emergency call center has to route the call to the local emergency center. Vonage is trying to make sure all customers have access to E911 because with it help can get sent to customers faster. It's safe to assume Vonage customers also want the E911 service in all areas.
If I had an emergency and needed help fast, there's no way I would want to dial 911 and talk to someone at a national emergency call center. Unfortunately, my life doesn't have a TiVo button I can push to magically pause an emergency while help is contacted. Maybe I'm spoiled, but I would want to be connected to the closest 911 dispatch center so they could send me whatever help I needed in the least time possible.
It's great that Vonage is concerned about the safety of its customers, but the company needs help to accomplish its goals. According to CNET's news.com, Vonage has to work with traditional phone companies to provide E911 service. Earlier this year, Vonage asked SBC, BellSouth, Qwest Communications International and Verizon Communications to provide access to their 911 infrastructure in an attempt to get Enhanced 911 in more locations. All of the companies met with Vonage, but problems have come up. In spite of a Federal Communications Commission mandate, SBC has refused to fully cooperate with Vonage.
It's understandable that some traditional phone companies might not want to help Vonage - after all, there probably aren't that many businesses out there willing to help their competitors in any way. In this case, though, the stakes are a little bit different. SBC has essentially put its business before the safety of some telephone users because the company has refused to fully cooperate.
SBC isn't complying because it wants broadband telephone companies to develop a standard for routing 911 calls. BellSouth, Qwest and Verizon don't seem to have the same concerns, as they are already working with Vonage to increase E911 accessibility. Although the companies that are cooperating could be doing so because of the FCC mandate, I think they also realize they can't disregard people's safety simply because of competition.
The good news is Vonage is trying to solve the problem and considering asking Congress and the FCC to force SBC to open its 911 infrastructure. Forcing SBC to open its infrastructure would be good, but how many people could suffer, or even die, while SBC continues to drag its feet? Vonage customers beware: SBC has decided that not helping a competing company is more important than helping people who have emergencies call 911
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