At 04:13 PM -0700 08/15/2005, Clark Martin wrote:
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
That is totally untrue. By federal law, EVERY emergency services
unit has a "regular" number that is the equivalent of dialing 911.
It goes into the same queue. (I think the diff is that the non-911
access isn't legally given / required to have priority over busy
circuits).
Stickers for your phone that include both 911 and the local 7 digit
numbers for police and fire and ambulance are FREE. They're
available from the various phone companies/stores, your local police
stations, fire stations, and municiple buildings. Heck, even a local
Radio Shack had them sitting on the counter, I saw the other day.
In an area served by a 911 system I believe it's criminal
negligence to offer phone service that doesn't interoperate with
it.
There are two types of telephone service as defined by the FCC:
Primary and Secondary.
Primary service has specific acessability (uptime / reliability)
requirements and E911 service (where available).
Secondary service has no uptime requirements and no E911 service.
The first POTS line to your home is a Primary line. Until the last
10 years or so, the additional POTS lines were Secondary, in many
areas, unless you paid a small fee (it was about $0.25/mo).
It was made clear on Vonage's web site (as on the other VoIP
providers'), from day 1, that their service is classified as
SECONDARY. I think it's admirable that the VoIP services are trying
to add reliable E911 connectivity. With congresses muddling it
should go a bit smoother now.
I'm sorry... If you choose to own only a bicycle instead of a car you
cannot complain that your bike doesn't go 55mph or is banned from
main highways. Likewise, if you choose to install a Secondary phone
service you have no business complaining because you're too dumb to
put a sticker on the phone with the local emergency numbers.
I saw the interview on CNN the other night, where they talked to a
woman (and her lawyer) whoze kid died "because of Vonage's 911
failure". She admits that she knew that the VoIP product didn't
include 911 service, and that she signed the service agreement that
clearly said so. Yet she'd apparently elminated her POTS service and
had no cell phone. Then, after her first call to 911 failed, she
continued to call 911 !!!"a dozen times"!!! before bothering to carry
her child to the neighbors and calling 911 from there. So now
they're suing...
Sometimes the gene pool needs weeding.
Regretfully, sometimes the wrong person gets weeded. :\
Next up: Sue your cable company because the "residential
best-effort" service you purchased went down during a thunder storm,
and you couldn't dial 911 even tho Vonage supports it!
pah.
- Dan.
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