At 1:05 PM -0500 8/15/05, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
At 9:43 AM -0700 8/15/05, Bruce Johnson wrote:
On Aug 14, 2005, at 3:49 PM, Kathi Anderson wrote:
I really don't see the problem with 911 services. Isn't there another
emergency number that one can use in emergencies?
Actually, in many communities, there is not; 911 is a coordinator
of all emergency services. Time spent calling the 'wrong' number,
then trying to convince the people on the other end that this is a
real emergency and no I can't call 911 is time in which people will
die.
Moreover, in an emergency, people remember 911. They'll waste
precious time looking up a phone number to call.
And that assumes the person knows to call something besides 911. How
many episodes of that 911 showed a kid dialing 911. And there are
baby sitters, house sitters, contractors and others that wouldn't
know.
Is suppose one option would be to set up your VOIP to dial the local
7 digit emergency number (assuming there is one) when 911 is dialed.
In an area served by a 911 system I believe it's criminal
negligence to offer phone service that doesn't interoperate with it.
At the very least there should be full disclosure about it.
And that points to to problem with getting 911 to work with a
"portable" phone like VOIP. Since you can theoretically take your
VOIP box with you and plug it into a network wherever you go, how
does it know where the heck you are?
Granted, that shouldn't be a big problem for VOIP setups in fixed
locations - like your office or home.
Cell phones can do it because you're going through a local
tower/provider, so they know where you physically are calling from.
Even that has it's problems when you are on the border between
dispatch areas. That's why in California 911 calls go to the
regional CHP dispatch center.
Perhaps VOIP boxes should have built-in GPS so they can get the
right 911 service... But that would probably raise the cost of the
boxes.
And it doesn't solve the issue of using VOIP on your laptop.
--
Clark Martin
Redwood City, CA, USA
Macintosh / Internet Consulting
"I'm a designated driver on the Information Super Highway"
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