Another deadline has come and gone with the FCC taking no action against VoIP service providers that fail to provide 911 emergency calling to their customers.

Monday was the deadline for service providers to file letters that explain what 911 systems they are using, how many of their customers can actually get 911 service, to what areas they provide 911 service and how they plan to extend the service to all their coverage area.

So far the commission has rolled back its deadline for complying with FCC requirements three times, and has let providers keep selling services even though they may not include 911. A key stipulation was that customers acknowledge that they understand the 911 they get from a VoIP provider may behave differently from the 911 they would get from a traditional circuit-switched voice carrier.

It was unclear from the outset what the penalty would be for those who did not comply with the latest FCC demands, and the FCC has issued nothing stating what it plans next. The commission is reading the letters that have been filed and not looking at possible penalties, according to a report by the Associated Press.

At issue is how 911 dispatchers can locate the phone from which a person has called when the phone is known to the network by an IP address, not by a particular wire connecting it to the network. The phone can move around to any IP network connection and now could be a continent away from where it was when it placed its last call.

So far the toughest restriction the FCC has placed on VoIP providers is forbidding them to sell services in areas where they cannot provide 911. Depending on how large these non-911 gaps are, that could crimp provider expansion plans.

Since 911 is a public safety issue, the FCC at some point has to require that all VoIP customers get 911 with the traditional features: the ability to tell the nearest public safety dispatcher where the call is coming from and what the phone number is.

Some VoIP providers, such as Vonage, require their customers to call in and report where the phone is located in order to get the call routed to the correct dispatching site. Even then, the dispatcher does not automatically get an address or a phone number for the caller. The caller has to provide those. Vonage is working with SBC and BellSouth to provide 911 for Vonage customers, but has not extended the service to all customers yet.

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