More on limitations of E-911 for residential VoIP

In the last newsletter, we voiced our concerns about the lack of E-911 capabilities for the burgeoning residential VoIP market. We have been concentrating on AT&T’s new CallVantage service for this discussion because AT&T is very upfront about this limitation, for which we applaud them.

Nevertheless, the limitations are rather severe. As with all providers, the power issue has to be addressed. In terms of E-911, AT&T further states in its terms of service:

“THE PSAP OR LOCAL EMERGENCY SERVICE DISPATCHER RECEIVING AT&T CALLVANTAGE 911 EMERGENCY SERVICE CALLS MAY NOT BE ABLE TO CAPTURE AND/OR RETAIN AUTOMATIC NUMBER OF LOCATION INFORMATION. THIS MEANS THAT THE DISPATCHER MAY NOT KNOW THE PHONE NUMBER OR PHYSICAL LOCATION OF THE PERSON WHO IS MAKING THE 911 CALL. THEREFORE, IF YOU DIAL 911 USING AT&T CALLVANTAGE SERVICE, YOU MUST IMMEDIATELY TELL THE DISPATCHER YOUR LOCATION (OR THE LOCATION OF THE EMERGENCY, IF DIFFERENT). YOU MUST ALSO TAKE CARE TO NOT DISCONNECT THE LINE, AS THE DISPATCHER MAY NOT HAVE A PHONE NUMBER TO USE TO CALL YOU BACK. IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO SPEAK AND DESCRIBE YOUR LOCATION, THE EMERGENCY DISPATCHER MAY NOT BE ABLE TO LOCATE YOU.”

Clearly, this is a significant step short of E-911 capabilities. AT&T is also quite careful to point out that if you take your equipment with you when you travel, for instance if you are going to your vacation home, the address associated with your equipment will still send the 911 call to the location of the primary registered address for that equipment. While you can re-register the location of your equipment, the timeframe is too long (a few days) to be useful in most circumstances unless you’re actually moving.

In fairness, we have to ask whether AT&T’s service is any better or worse than anybody else’s service. And the answer is that we’ll have to investigate further.

For instance, in Time Warner Cable’s FAQs, the company states that “safety is an important consideration and enhanced 911 service is provided.” However, we don’t know exactly what it means by “enhanced.”

So here we go. Will phone services soon rival ladders for the number of warning labels? AT&T’s aforementioned terms of service also include a statement that “YOU AGREE TO ADVISE ALL INDIVIDUALS OF THIS LIMITATION WHO MAY HAVE OCCASION TO PLACE CALLS OVER THIS SERVICE FROM THE LOCATION AT WHICH YOU HAVE INSTALLED IT.”

So, in the future, you’ll greet your guests at the door saying, “Welcome! As soon as we review the phone services at our house, we’ll be glad to offer you a glass of wine.” That is, of course, unless you’re in California where you’ll have to provide them with an additional health warning about alcohol and other potentially hazardous substances that may be present.