AT&T  has developed what it calls "an innovative new solution" to address the routing of 911 calls when its CallVantage Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) users are away from home. The company's new technology is designed to respond to a mandate by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ordering VoIP companies to provide emergency 911 services to their customers by Nov. 28 or face being disconnected.
One of the problems facing VoIP providers attempting to provide emergency 911 services is that consumers move from one location to another. Nationwide, 911 services use databases to identify callers' addresses. For traditional phone users, these databases are automatically updated during the moving process when transferring or changing phone service. However, VoIP users do not have access to these normal update methods. Moreover, VoIP users can take their services with them on their laptops when they travel.
AT&T claims its new Heartbeat technology will detect when the VoIP telephone adapter (TA) has been disconnected from the network and subsequently reconnected at another location. After determining that the TA has moved, AT&T will temporarily suspend the service until customers have updated or verified their new location by using an 800 number or a Web site. The technology will be available to the company's 53,000 VoIP users.
"AT&T's Heartbeat process is a critical step in allowing VoIP subscribers to make 911 calls when using their phone away from home," said AT&T spokesperson Claudia Jones. "It is the best solution technology currently has available."
Government Demands
Analysts concede that this is a good start but that AT&T simply is attempting to meet the government mandate. The majority of Americans are accustomed to constant access to 911 services. That expectation has led to several lawsuits that have been filed by VoIP consumers who could not reach 911 services in an emergency.
"To be fair to AT&T, the company has to do this," said Maribel Lopez, a vice president at Forrester Research. "It is government mandated that you have to have a 911 solution because people expect 911 to work, regardless of where they are."
While this might be a good step forward for AT&T in terms of location identification technology, some analysts are saying that more basic issues, such as ensuring that the VoIP networks are connected with all 911 call centers throughout the country, should be addressed by all VoIP providers, including AT&T. Currently, CallVantage connects with some 50 percent of the 911 administration sites or public safety administration points. (continued...)
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