Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-03 Thread Michael . Dillon

 To expand: the problem is the VoIP client being able to *furnish* an
 approximation of where it is, to permit the selection of the proper
 Public Safety Access Point (or equivalent).

VoIP clients can't provide such information unless they 
KNOW this information in the first place. The only somewhat
reliable way to know this information is for the hardware
device containing the VoIP client to also contain a 
GPS system or some equivalent (cell triangulation, querying
cell transmitters, triangulate RTT measurements to known IP addresses)
That is a big problem.

 If each end-router supplied that data, through *some* easily queriable
 protocol, such clients could retrieve it, and then decide (in some
 fashion) where to send Emergency Services Request calls (or furnish it
 to their carrier, if they have one, for similar purposes).

And if I am using a laptop communicating with IP over Bluetooth 
to a GPRS cellphone in order to establish an IPv6 tunnel to
my colocated server in Germany, then which router should my
VoIP client query? My home DSL router in London? The router
at the colo in Germany? The GPRS cell transmitter? The Japanese
IP gateway router between the cell network and the Internet?

This is not a simple technical problem. There are human factors
included as well, for instance, should there be a separate
specification for different classes of device so that a device
with a screen greater than 320 x 320 pixels should ask the user
to confirm (or override their address)? A quick knee-jerk fix 
will only create new problems and muddy the waters further if
it is presented as the ultimate solution.

--Michael Dillon



Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-02 Thread JP Velders

 Date: Mon, 2 May 2005 01:46:50 +0200
 From: Niels Bakker [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 To: nanog@merit.edu
 Subject: Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

 * [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Sean Donelan) [Mon 02 May 2005, 01:45 CEST]:
 Why do you think the ISP knows anything more precise that the
 information they already give in the IN-ADDR.ARPA name?  Let's encode
 the ZIP Code in the router DNS name ... (well, someone had to suggest
 using DNS as the universal database solution eventually).

 Well that's fun... whenever you see a phone number you can get its
 physical location.  Doesn't sound like such a good idea to me,
 privacy-wise.

Looking it up in the phonebook (be it digital or otherwise) is much
the same, although you won't have any control over being listed or
not. I even recall that the Dutch Phonebook on a CD-ROM had unlisted
numbers on it, so you could get the address associated with it...

The same goes for DSL IP's with some DSL telco's... They allow for
automated billing by sites through the phone bill (opt-out ofcourse)
or even provide the sought geolocation info (Klipping). The latter is
mostly used by devious marketing agencies ofcourse, and some of the
ISP's have explicitly taken care of the opt-out for all their
subscribers...

In short, technologies exist, how they're used is mostly up to us. How
to prevent abuse is definitely up to us (techies or whatever ;D)...

Rome wasn't built in a day...
(though some argue it was destroyed in one ;D)

   -- Niels.

Regards,
JP Velders


Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-02 Thread Iljitsch van Beijnum
On 2-mei-2005, at 13:58, JP Velders wrote:
I even recall that the Dutch Phonebook on a CD-ROM had unlisted
numbers on it, so you could get the address associated with it...
Hardly.


Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-02 Thread John Todd
At 12:55 AM +0200 on 4/29/05, Iljitsch van Beijnum wrote:
On 29-apr-2005, at 0:17, Owen DeLong wrote:
Someone should show them some of the 802.11 based cellular-like SIP
phones and ask them how exactly they plan to get good geolocation data
for 911 on those and the soft-phone in my laptop.

Who exactly will I be talking to when I dial 911 from an internet cafe
in Puerto Vallarta through my Virgina VOIP account with a California
Billing address?
You're absolutely right. I submit that if the US government wants 
location information for VoIP 911 calls, they should create an 
infrastructure that allows people to determine their location. Your 
example shows that this infrastructure should also be available 
outside the US. Maybe a satellite network that continuously transmit 
location beacon information which can be used to triangulate one's 
location would do the trick?

For better information, and people who are truly working on this 
(versus armchair quarterbacking, like me):

http://www.ietf-ecrit.org/cgi-bin/ecrit.cgi
http://www.nena.org/VoIP_IP/index.htm
Now: On with the wild opinions, speculation, and exclamation points.
My biggest concern regarding VoIP-based E911 (a.k.a.: emergency 
services) delivery is the lack of an easily-available database which 
maps lat/lon/alt to a PSAP number that can be reached by a normal 
VoIP-PSTN gateway.

I know where (almost) all my end users are.  While I appreciate the 
mobile nature of IP endpoints, it is still the case that as an iPBX 
administrator or ITSP, I have fairly high certainty of where the 
physical location of each endpoint is, or I can extract those data 
from the user via a list of methods which makes use of the VoIP 
platform painful or threatening if they do not provide accurate 
geographic location.  Political or technical solutions exist to 
enforce the accuracy of these data, to varying degrees of success. 
However, I am not incented to collect, store, or use these data at 
all today since it is meaningless unless I have a PSTN gateway to an 
emergency-services capable POTS line in the same location as the VoIP 
endpoint.  My PBXs or IP gateways can ultimately make/take calls to 
the PSTN, so why can't I hand off emergency calls even though I know 
the exact location of the endpoint?  The reason is because I have no 
access to the data that maps physical location to a PSAP, so handing 
off the call to the PSTN will result in failure except for those 
locations that have an overlap of physical POTS gateway devices and 
VoIP handsets in close proximity.  Even if I were to have 100% 
accurate locations of devices down to a meter, it would be useless in 
the event of an emergency call if I didn't have an POTS connections 
within a few dozen meters of that user which could carry the call to 
the correct PSAP.

This database exists in fractured form - it HAS to exist, since every 
state uses it to currently map POTS lines to PSAPs(1).  I expect 
however that the data is spread out across a million little niches of 
turf, where each niche is controlled by one of a variety of 
unpleasant bureaucrats who probably don't even work directly for the 
PSAPs.  I expect wrestling these data out of these regional fiefdoms 
will take some time unless some Federal agency kicks down some doors, 
at least here in the US.  Perhaps in other nations this may be 
easier, and a multinational coordinated effort would be the best way 
to approach this with a single query method that works regardless 
of country (brr... starts to smell like ENUM...)

Here's my quick opinion summary on what really is the underlying 
database missing link for a workable VoIP E911 solution in the United 
States (though certainly other nations have the same problem.)  I 
think it is required that we have a location-to-PSAP number database 
that is:

0:  network-based - IP as the basic transport, specifically on the 
public Internet
1:  fast - has to provide responses in 2 seconds
2:  real-time - while caching might be _possible_, it should be 
possible/preferred to do lookups in real-time
3:  authenticated - I encourage authenticated lookups, so that 
registration is required (I'll leave the reasons as an exercise to 
the reader.)
4:  distributed - the system must be able to withstand massive DoS 
attempts and natural volume spikes
5:  multiply-connected - getting there via public IP is essential, 
but perhaps I'd like to get there via (say) GPRS in a way that is 
completely alternate to public IP paths
6:  accurate - must provide correct data in a way that is equal or 
greater accuracy than current PSTN methods (assuming I give it 
correct lat/lon/alt of device)
7:  not free - I don't mind paying! As long as it's not 1.5x what I 
pay now per line, or not more than $6/mo for a small PBX, OR I'm 
willing to pay $xx on a per-lookup basis (2)
8:  standards-based - XML would be ideal, of course, and NENA already 
has some basics for this in place
9:  open - no proprietary or patent-encumbered 

Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-02 Thread Jay R. Ashworth

On Sun, May 01, 2005 at 11:56:50PM -0400, David Lesher wrote:
 Alas, Gamewell fire boxes are all but dead. I don't know of any
 city still running them. Too bad, because it was a dirt-simple
 technology that Just Plain Worked. Looks like they were first
 deployed in the 1850's.

I believe that there's a chance Westwood MA might still have some; they
hadn't yanked them out yet by 1981 when I moved.

Cheers,
-- jra
-- 
Jay R. Ashworth[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Designer  Baylink RFC 2100
Ashworth  AssociatesThe Things I Think'87 e24
St Petersburg FL USA  http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274

  If you can read this... thank a system administrator.  Or two.  --me


Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-02 Thread Chris Boyd

On May 1, 2005, at 6:43 PM, Sean Donelan wrote:
On Sun, 1 May 2005, Chris Boyd wrote:
s/zipcode/unique geographic identifier on the rough order of a square
mile/
Or have the server return the SNMP location information.  The network
operator would then be able to configure locally meaningful
information.
Why do you think the ISP knows anything more precise that the 
information
they already give in the IN-ADDR.ARPA name?
Sorry--Made an ambigous network operator reference there.  I meant 
the operator of the LAN, not the ISP.

This would be a similar responsibility to what PBX admins already have 
to do, as others have pointed out.  Less clueful and/or home users 
would need to have dire warnings printed in the doc and displayed on 
screen about configuring the correct location information, but that can 
easily be done in new equipment and updates to older software.

Adding the information as a DHCP option sounds interesting.  Maybe 
bears further discussion?

--Chris


Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-02 Thread Jay R. Ashworth

On Sun, May 01, 2005 at 10:56:57PM -0400, Hannigan, Martin wrote:
  The PBX intercepts the call and uses special trunks to the PSAP;
  it also has to send data telling where the caller is.
 
 There are no special trunks to the PSAP from a PBX.

Actually, Martin, there are.

For E-911 campus-type service, at least.

You apparently need to use either a PRI or a CAMA trunk to extend the
calling PBX extension number to the PSAP, so it can ALI the appropriate
location for the dispatcher.

See 

http://www.911etc.com/pbx_solutions.html
 as well as
http://www.xo.com/products/smallgrowing/voice/local/psali/

Cheers,
-- jra
-- 
Jay R. Ashworth[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Designer  Baylink RFC 2100
Ashworth  AssociatesThe Things I Think'87 e24
St Petersburg FL USA  http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274

  If you can read this... thank a system administrator.  Or two.  --me


Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-02 Thread Sean Donelan

On Mon, 2 May 2005, Chris Boyd wrote:
 This would be a similar responsibility to what PBX admins already have
 to do, as others have pointed out.  Less clueful and/or home users
 would need to have dire warnings printed in the doc and displayed on
 screen about configuring the correct location information, but that can
 easily be done in new equipment and updates to older software.

You mean like the dozens of dire warnings Vonage has in their product to
repeatedly remind less clueful and home users to register the correct
location information for their phone.  And yet, Vonage is still being
sued by an State Attorney General.

Who is the family going to sue when Dad forgets to configure the correct
location information for the home VOIP phone?

Large companies, hotels, universities, hospitals, etc have professional
staff (or hire a company) to keep their phone systems working and the
information up to date.  Just like home PC's, most residential users do
not have either an IT staff or a PBX staff. Most home users don't want
to be system managers or PBX managers.  They just want their phone to
work, including all the stuff they get from their POTS line today.




Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-02 Thread Fergie (Paul Ferguson)


It appears that yet another state AG is going after
Vonage -- this time Michigan:

 http://www.networkingpipeline.com/news/162100463

- ferg


-- Sean Donelan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

You mean like the dozens of dire warnings Vonage has in their product to
repeatedly remind less clueful and home users to register the correct
location information for their phone.  And yet, Vonage is still being
sued by an State Attorney General.

--
Fergie, a.k.a. Paul Ferguson
 Engineering Architecture for the Internet
 [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/


RE: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-02 Thread Hannigan, Martin

 -Original Message-
 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of
 Jay R. Ashworth
 Sent: Monday, May 02, 2005 3:14 PM
 To: nanog list
 Subject: Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP
 
 
 
 On Sun, May 01, 2005 at 10:56:57PM -0400, Hannigan, Martin wrote:
   The PBX intercepts the call and uses special trunks to the PSAP;
   it also has to send data telling where the caller is.
  
  There are no special trunks to the PSAP from a PBX.
 
 Actually, Martin, there are.
 
 For E-911 campus-type service, at least.
 
 You apparently need to use either a PRI or a CAMA trunk to extend the
 calling PBX extension number to the PSAP, so it can ALI the 
 appropriate
 location for the dispatcher.
 
 See 
 
 http://www.911etc.com/pbx_solutions.html
  as well as
 http://www.xo.com/products/smallgrowing/voice/local/psali/

 
Two managed services? I'd prefer not to digress to
PBX's. The ss7 component more interesting, and, I would 
find arguing the technical merits of the solution more 
satisfying than arguing with google queries. The only 
think interesting is that they are supporting the theme 
of the thread, 911, $call proto, and SS7, all dependant 
on each other 

YMMV, but I think I've reached my public 
posting limit for the day.

Best,


-M





Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-02 Thread John Levine

You mean like the dozens of dire warnings Vonage has in their product
to repeatedly remind less clueful and home users to register the
correct location information for their phone.  And yet, Vonage is
still being sued by an State Attorney General.

I believe that the incident that provoked this chain of events
involved a Vonage customer who had provided the correct location data,
dialed 911, and was connected to a recording that said go away and
call us from a real phone.

The problem is that Vonage doesn't want to spend the money to provide
real E911 so instead they have this half-assed service that calls the
phone on the receptionist's desk at the PSAP.  If a VoIP provider
wants to provide real E911, there is no technical bar to their doing
so, using E911 trunks from the CLECs who provide their connection to
the phone network.  VoIP provider Packet8 makes a selling point that
they provide real E911 (at extra cost, about the same as the mandatory
911 fee on a POTS line) in most of the U.S. now.

Regards,
John Levine, [EMAIL PROTECTED], Taughannock Networks, Trumansburg NY
http://www.taugh.com




Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread Jay R. Ashworth

On Thu, Apr 28, 2005 at 06:12:25PM -0700, Owen DeLong wrote:
 I submit that I don't necessarily want my communications device or my
 location tracked at all times by the government.  My point is not the
 need for location, but, that it is impractical to reliably implement
 the traditional 911 model for VOIP.
 
 The traditional 911 model depends on being able to make determination
 of at least a roughly correct 911 service provider based on connection
 point.  (Cell site, telco central office, service location, etc.).
 
 None of these are available for many VOIP services.  I think that if
 the focus were on delivering 911 service for fixed-location VOIP
 systems, it would make much more sense.  However, the FCC, so far,
 does not seem to understand that this distinction is possible or
 relevant.

How about an anycast address implement(ed|able) by every network
provider that would return a zipcode?

$ telnet 10.255.255.254
Connected
33709
Disconnected.
$

Cheers,
-- jra
-- 
Jay R. Ashworth[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Designer  Baylink RFC 2100
Ashworth  AssociatesThe Things I Think'87 e24
St Petersburg FL USA  http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274

  If you can read this... thank a system administrator.  Or two.  --me


Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread Christopher L. Morrow


On Sun, 1 May 2005, Jay R. Ashworth wrote:

 How about an anycast address implement(ed|able) by every network
 provider that would return a zipcode?

 $ telnet 10.255.255.254
 Connected
 33709
 Disconnected.

is there a unique zipcode in shanghai?


Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread bmanning

On Sun, May 01, 2005 at 12:34:16PM -0400, Jay R. Ashworth wrote:
 
 On Thu, Apr 28, 2005 at 06:12:25PM -0700, Owen DeLong wrote:
  I submit that I don't necessarily want my communications device or my
  location tracked at all times by the government.  My point is not the
  need for location, but, that it is impractical to reliably implement
  the traditional 911 model for VOIP.
  
  The traditional 911 model depends on being able to make determination
  of at least a roughly correct 911 service provider based on connection
  point.  (Cell site, telco central office, service location, etc.).
  
  None of these are available for many VOIP services.  I think that if
  the focus were on delivering 911 service for fixed-location VOIP
  systems, it would make much more sense.  However, the FCC, so far,
  does not seem to understand that this distinction is possible or
  relevant.
 
 How about an anycast address implement(ed|able) by every network
 provider that would return a zipcode?
 
 $ telnet 10.255.255.254
 Connected
 33709
 Disconnected.
 $
 
 Cheers,
 -- jra
 -- 
 Jay R. Ashworth[EMAIL 
 PROTECTED]
 Designer  Baylink RFC 2100
 Ashworth  AssociatesThe Things I Think'87 e24
 St Petersburg FL USA  http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274
 
   If you can read this... thank a system administrator.  Or two.  --me

are you -REALLY- arguing for the return of finger ??

--bill


Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread Jay R. Ashworth

On Sun, May 01, 2005 at 04:37:40PM +, Christopher L. Morrow wrote:
 On Sun, 1 May 2005, Jay R. Ashworth wrote:
  How about an anycast address implement(ed|able) by every network
  provider that would return a zipcode?
 
  $ telnet 10.255.255.254
  Connected
  33709
  Disconnected.
 
 is there a unique zipcode in shanghai?

s/zipcode/unique geographic identifier on the rough order of a square mile/

Cheers,
-- jra
-- 
Jay R. Ashworth[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Designer  Baylink RFC 2100
Ashworth  AssociatesThe Things I Think'87 e24
St Petersburg FL USA  http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274

  If you can read this... thank a system administrator.  Or two.  --me


Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread Jay R. Ashworth

On Sun, May 01, 2005 at 04:38:10PM +, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
  How about an anycast address implement(ed|able) by every network
  provider that would return a zipcode?
  
  $ telnet 10.255.255.254
  Connected
  33709
  Disconnected.
  $
   are you -REALLY- arguing for the return of finger ??

I thought it was clear that I was not.

To expand: the problem is the VoIP client being able to *furnish* an
approximation of where it is, to permit the selection of the proper
Public Safety Access Point (or equivalent).

If each end-router supplied that data, through *some* easily queriable
protocol, such clients could retrieve it, and then decide (in some
fashion) where to send Emergency Services Request calls (or furnish it
to their carrier, if they have one, for similar purposes).

I Am Not An ISP, Either, but this problem doesn't seem *all* that hard
to solve to me...

Cheers,
-- jra
-- 
Jay R. Ashworth[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Designer  Baylink RFC 2100
Ashworth  AssociatesThe Things I Think'87 e24
St Petersburg FL USA  http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274

  If you can read this... thank a system administrator.  Or two.  --me


Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread Christopher L. Morrow


On Sun, 1 May 2005, Jay R. Ashworth wrote:


 On Sun, May 01, 2005 at 04:37:40PM +, Christopher L. Morrow wrote:
  On Sun, 1 May 2005, Jay R. Ashworth wrote:
   How about an anycast address implement(ed|able) by every network
   provider that would return a zipcode?
  
   $ telnet 10.255.255.254
   Connected
   33709
   Disconnected.
 
  is there a unique zipcode in shanghai?

 s/zipcode/unique geographic identifier on the rough order of a square mile/

so, how does this work when you dial into the internet in (or use your
DSL) in newark and the termination point for L3 is in Philadelphia? That
seems like more than 1sq mile...


Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread David Lesher

Speaking on Deep Background, the Press Secretary whispered:
 
 
 
  How about an anycast address implement(ed|able) by every network
  provider that would return a zipcode?
 
  $ telnet 10.255.255.254
  Connected
  33709
  Disconnected.
 
 is there a unique zipcode in shanghai?

And even Zip+4 plus whatever they have now added to it will
not meet Big Brother's requirement in the USA.




-- 
A host is a host from coast to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 no one will talk to a host that's close[v].(301) 56-LINUX
Unless the host (that isn't close).pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead20915-1433



Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread Jay R. Ashworth

On Sun, May 01, 2005 at 12:55:16PM -0400, David Lesher wrote:
 Speaking on Deep Background, the Press Secretary whispered:
   How about an anycast address implement(ed|able) by every network
   provider that would return a zipcode?
  
   $ telnet 10.255.255.254
   Connected
   33709
   Disconnected.
  
  is there a unique zipcode in shanghai?
 
 And even Zip+4 plus whatever they have now added to it will
 not meet Big Brother's requirement in the USA.

My issue, David, is not where is the user exactly?, it's which PSAP
do I route to?.  Something on the close order of a US ZIPtm Code is
fine for that.

Cheers,
-- jra
-- 
Jay R. Ashworth[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Designer  Baylink RFC 2100
Ashworth  AssociatesThe Things I Think'87 e24
St Petersburg FL USA  http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274

  If you can read this... thank a system administrator.  Or two.  --me


Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread Robert Boyle

 How about an anycast address implement(ed|able) by every network
 provider that would return a zipcode?

 $ telnet 10.255.255.254
 Connected
 33709
 Disconnected.
 $

are you -REALLY- arguing for the return of finger ??
--bill
Not finger, but something like this could work. The server would return the 
physical address of the customer of record assigned that IP address. Kind 
of a uni-directional rwhois. The VoIP phone could connect to the anycast 
address and the ISP would lookup the allocation for the connecting IP and 
return a text string with the physical service location. The VoIP provider 
would be handed this location as part of the SIP registration (or other 
proprietary protocol used). In the event of a 911 call, the phone may check 
the location again to make sure the address of record/IP address hasn't 
changed before the registration expires. This would work fine for all 
customers except those who are mobile and served by a wireless base station 
which serves a large geographic region. If the provider was using some type 
of authentication before handing out IP addresses (I think most probably 
are) they could at least hand out the serving wireless AP location - some 
of the newer adjustable directional APs could even be modified to give an 
approximate relative location. I doubt that VoIP will be exempt from 911 
regulations forever as much as I would like to see that. In lieu of the 
regulatory state going away, it makes sense to come up with a workable 
technology solution which is easy for IP providers and VoIP carriers to 
implement. VoIP providers could recommend IP transit players who support 
IP911 location services. Once it becomes a competitive advantage, the smart 
players will quickly adapt their systems to support IP911. I think we could 
do this within a couple of days with a few hours of coding. It isn't 
terribly difficult to setup. Those providers who don't use a centralized 
database for provisioning and IP allocation would definitely have a harder 
time, but it could still be done with some effort. The extra message 
elements of the SIP registration message could be used immediately once a 
standard is decided upon much as the TXT DNS records have been used for SPF 
records to fight email forgery.

-Robert
Tellurian Networks - The Ultimate Internet Connection
http://www.tellurian.com | 888-TELLURIAN | 973-300-9211
Well done is better than well said. - Benjamin Franklin


Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread Jay R. Ashworth

On Sun, May 01, 2005 at 09:51:33AM -0700, Bill Woodcock wrote:
 That said, a widely-implemented well-known anycast address that would
 give you location information is a really cool idea. A smoother
 imlementation might be to just have a well-known address that you'd
 do a DNS LOC query against, since describing locations better than
 postal-codes do is a problem the DNS folks have already solved.

Which address would resolve differently, depending on which DNS server
you're talking to?

I'm not sure that's good enough; being able to identify the *network
ingress point* is the thing I'm after.  For wired connections, that's
the access concentrator, for wireless ones, the nearest tower. 

It would be necessary to be able to tailor the response to the inquiry
based on that, I think, to fulfill the requirement *I'm* trying to
fulfill in this posited design -- which is not guaranteed to be the
same as any possible regulatory requirement.

Cheers,
-- jra
-- 
Jay R. Ashworth[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Designer  Baylink RFC 2100
Ashworth  AssociatesThe Things I Think'87 e24
St Petersburg FL USA  http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274

  If you can read this... thank a system administrator.  Or two.  --me


Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread Eric Brunner-Williams in Portland Maine

are you -REALLY- arguing for the return of finger ??

If it gets the user a brown fizzy drink ... it can't be a completely bad idea.


Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread Stephen Sprunk

Thus spake Jay R. Ashworth [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 How about an anycast address implement(ed|able) by every network
 provider that would return a zipcode?

First, there are plenty of examples of ZIP codes which are shared by
multiple municipalities and thus PSAPs, but at least you'd get _someone_ who
could probably help, even if they needed to transfer you to a different PSAP
(assuming that's possible).  Cell phones have the same problem when you're
near city or county boundaries.

Second, there are at least two states where you must provide location
information _within X sqft_ to the PSAP.  In the business world this means
you need to know which part of which floor in which building the phone is
located, ostensibly so the police/fire crews don't waste time searching for
you if you're unable to speak.  This is a nightmare for PBX admins, VoIP or
not.

S

Stephen Sprunk  Those people who think they know everything
CCIE #3723 are a great annoyance to those of us who do.
K5SSS --Isaac Asimov



Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread Peter Karin Dambier

 To expand: the problem is the VoIP client being able to *furnish* an
 approximation of where it is, to permit the selection of the proper
 Public Safety Access Point (or equivalent).

The fact is:

Skype is not interested where the client is located.
They dont care. Well, Skype is not a defined standard
but skype exits.

There are lots of VoIP telefones out. Do you really
want to call them back in to change the software?

How about tunnels? Do we have to rewrite all tunnel
software?

How do I know where that client with ip 192.168.48.226
(me) is located? NAT behind NAT behind NAT, some
packet-radio links and IPv6 over ISODE tunnels and
all that via SNA through an IBM company link.

No, my network is not really that complicated - but
I thought of a hamradio friend who is working at the
Georg-Von-Neumayer Antarctic Base.

Or simply think of an IP-phone used aboard an airplane
moving from Berlin to Abitibi-Témiscamingue (Québec).

You cannot change all phones out there.

You cannot change all public domain telephone software.

All you can do is tell your sip office to direct any
911 or 112 calls directly to the Vatican. Hopefully
they will have someone speaking the right language.
Probably they will have the right personnel to deal
with this kind of emergency.

A buddhist monastery in Tibet would do nicely too.
I think that is where the chinese route their calls :)

 If each end-router supplied that data, through *some* easily queriable
 protocol, such clients could retrieve it, and then decide (in some
 fashion) where to send Emergency Services Request calls (or furnish it
 to their carrier, if they have one, for similar purposes).

I know where my DSLAM is located. That is some 80 KM or say 40 miles
away from here. My link to that router is via PPPoE. There are some
switches, bridges and dont ask me what other hardware in between.

All that router knows is, I am one of 4K costumers connected.
It does not care where I plug in my DSL modem as long as I stay
some 150 KM around Frankfurt.

There are some 60 police callcenters within this area. I had already
the experience what it means when my GSM phone connects the
wrong one of them.

Of course whe have 112 service for cellurlar phones - only they wont
help you if you need them.

Just take the final two bytes of your ip and connect one of them
randomly. You probably hit the right one.

Why dialing a number? How about dialing an ip?
156.106.192.163 that is www.itu.int. They are the right
one to ask about telephone regulations anyway.
 

Cheers,
Peter

-- 
Peter und Karin Dambier 
Graeffstrasse 14 
D-64646 Heppenheim 
+49-6252-671788 (Telekom) 
+49-6252-599091 (O2 Genion) 
+1-360-226-6583-9738 (INAIC)
[EMAIL PROTECTED] 
www.peter-dambier.de
peter-dambier.site.voila.fr


Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread Fred Baker

On May 2, 2005, at 2:34 AM, Jay R. Ashworth wrote:
How about an anycast address implement(ed|able) by every network
provider that would return a zipcode?
That would be fine in the US, and with some extension in Canada and a 
few other countries.

No, I think the service would have to be built using some real 
definition of location (such as GPS) which is offered by the phone to 
the called party on user command, and the called party then refers that 
to some clearinghouse that gets it to the right emergency service 
office.


Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread Jay R. Ashworth

On Sun, May 01, 2005 at 09:20:21PM +0200, Brad Knowles wrote:
   Where's the zipcode?

Aw, hell, people; of course it's not a one layer problem.

But only being able to participate in nanog one day a week has clearly
ticked some folks off again; crawling back into my cave now.  Thought
this was the NFL.

Cheers,
-- jra
-- 
Jay R. Ashworth[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Designer  Baylink RFC 2100
Ashworth  AssociatesThe Things I Think'87 e24
St Petersburg FL USA  http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274

  If you can read this... thank a system administrator.  Or two.  --me


RE: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread Hannigan, Martin

 -Original Message-
 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of
 Jay R. Ashworth
 Sent: Sunday, May 01, 2005 5:17 PM
 To: NANOG list
 Subject: Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP
 
 
 
 On Sun, May 01, 2005 at 09:20:21PM +0200, Brad Knowles wrote:
  Where's the zipcode?
 
 Aw, hell, people; of course it's not a one layer problem.
 
 But only being able to participate in nanog one day a week has clearly
 ticked some folks off again; crawling back into my cave now.  Thought
 this was the NFL.

It is. Sometimes it's warmer on the bench.

-M

 


Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread Florian Weimer

* Peter  Karin Dambier:

 Skype and public domain telefones dont know about location, 
 nor will they ever learn.

 The only place where somebody could catch a 911 call is at
 a sip server.

Come on, let's be a bit more creative.  Location signalling over IP
would be technically feasible.  Your ISP does in fact know where your
connection ends.  Even it's just a tunnel, we eventually get down to
layer 1 and bingo, the information is there.

Of course, you don't get the necessary infrastructure for free, but
you could use it for other services, too (like making identity theft a
bit harder).  There are privacy implications as well.  But I'm not
sure if an enticement to develop technical solutions is necessarily a
bad thing.


Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread Chris Boyd

On May 1, 2005, at 11:44 AM, Jay R. Ashworth wrote:
On Sun, May 01, 2005 at 04:37:40PM +, Christopher L. Morrow wrote:
On Sun, 1 May 2005, Jay R. Ashworth wrote:
How about an anycast address implement(ed|able) by every network
provider that would return a zipcode?
$ telnet 10.255.255.254
Connected
33709
Disconnected.
is there a unique zipcode in shanghai?
s/zipcode/unique geographic identifier on the rough order of a square 
mile/

Or have the server return the SNMP location information.  The network 
operator would then be able to configure locally meaningful 
information.

--Chris


Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread Chris Boyd

On May 1, 2005, at 11:53 AM, Christopher L. Morrow wrote:
so, how does this work when you dial into the internet in (or use your
DSL) in newark and the termination point for L3 is in Philadelphia? 
That
seems like more than 1sq mile...

In the dial up case, you could/should know the originating number, so 
location can be determined from that.

In the DSL case, the ATM PVC can often be mapped back to a DSLAM port 
and thus a wire pair with a known termination.

Whether the provisioning and management systems are up to the task of 
providing this information quickly enough for emergency services, I 
don't know.

--Chris


Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread Alex Rubenstein

No to nit picks, but do zip codes share the same boundaries as 
municipalities?



How about an anycast address implement(ed|able) by every network
provider that would return a zipcode?
$ telnet 10.255.255.254
Connected
33709
Disconnected.
$
Cheers,
-- jra
--
Alex Rubenstein, AR97, K2AHR, [EMAIL PROTECTED], latency, Al Reuben
Net Access Corporation, 800-NET-ME-36, http://www.nac.net


RE: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread Hannigan, Martin


 -Original Message-
 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of
 Chris Boyd
 Sent: Sunday, May 01, 2005 6:42 PM
 To: nanog@merit.edu
 Subject: Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP
 
 
 
 
 On May 1, 2005, at 11:53 AM, Christopher L. Morrow wrote:
 
  so, how does this work when you dial into the internet in 
 (or use your
  DSL) in newark and the termination point for L3 is in Philadelphia? 
  That
  seems like more than 1sq mile...
 
 
 In the dial up case, you could/should know the originating number, so 
 location can be determined from that.

Right, this is standard CNAM/LIDB behavoir. 

 In the DSL case, the ATM PVC can often be mapped back to a DSLAM port 
 and thus a wire pair with a known termination.

Correct again, but there's still and assigned number isn't there?  
The above would apply.

 
 Whether the provisioning and management systems are up to the task of 
 providing this information quickly enough for emergency services, I 
 don't know.

 
http://news.com.com/Vonage,+SBC+in+talks+over+911+help/2100-7352_3-5683817.html?part=rsstag=5683817subj=news

Now, as I understand it, the Pulver order[1], which makes voip companies
'information providers' may be at issue here. IANAL[2], so I can't speak to
that, but as a CLEC, you have a right to access the E911 infrastructure.

To keep it simple, if you have a phone number, you have the capability
to ID the calling-station to EMS, except, if you have VOIP or cell, and 
when E911 is turned on for VOIP, there may have to be some sort of declaration 
as to stationary like an ILEC ds0, or dynamic, like a cell phone. The
information has to be entered into the databases, and you have to have
the access to those databases.

I think you'll see voipco's rushing to insure e911 as a competitive
edge since it's somewhat of a roadblock, even if it's psychological.

There are other issues to grapple with related to full deployment
and acceptance beyond E911, but that would be a big step.

1. Talk to Jeff Pulver about the Pulver Order
2. IANAL = I am not a lawyer


Best,

Martin


Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread Sean Donelan

On Sun, 1 May 2005, Chris Boyd wrote:
  s/zipcode/unique geographic identifier on the rough order of a square
  mile/

 Or have the server return the SNMP location information.  The network
 operator would then be able to configure locally meaningful
 information.

Why do you think the ISP knows anything more precise that the information
they already give in the IN-ADDR.ARPA name?  Let's encode the ZIP Code
in the router DNS name ... (well, someone had to suggest using DNS as
the universal database solution eventually).  And more importantly why
do you think it is actually useful enough to solve the problem?

If the location of the ISP's router was good enough to identify the
location of the user, the marketing people would have already solved the
problem.

For everyone who thinks they have discovered the final, universal solution
to any problem, they probably don't understand the entire problem.

If you actually want to solve the problem, you need to get at least 5 to
10 different databases/protocols/systems to inter-operate on a world-wide
level with an embedded base of hundreds of millions.  There are
years/decades of FCC/PUC rulings prohibiting those systems from
inter-operating.  And finally, who is going to pay for the changes.



Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread Niels Bakker
* [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Sean Donelan) [Mon 02 May 2005, 01:45 CEST]:
Why do you think the ISP knows anything more precise that the 
information they already give in the IN-ADDR.ARPA name?  Let's encode 
the ZIP Code in the router DNS name ... (well, someone had to suggest 
using DNS as the universal database solution eventually).
Well that's fun... whenever you see a phone number you can get its
physical location.  Doesn't sound like such a good idea to me,
privacy-wise.
-- Niels.
--
 The idle mind is the devil's playground


Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread David Lesher

Speaking on Deep Background, the Press Secretary whispered:
 
 
 
 No to nit picks, but do zip codes share the same boundaries as 
 municipalities?
 

ROTFL...

Zip codes, municipalities, voting districts {we have many: State,
ergo US Senate, US House, State House, County, City, precinct,
school district, special assessment area, etc etc.}, telephone
serving offices and geography ALL have unique boundaries.

Sometime they share the same one -- CO boundaries and others usually
follow say the Mississippi river, for example, but WAIT! The VM-MD
boundary is high-water mark on the VA side. That island under 66?
It has a foot bridge to VA but is in not part of same.

And there are unique voting areas consisting of one house. (As I
recall the story, it's in Hooterville for ALL except the school
district, where it's in Podunk, since there is no road the school
bus can take there...except through Podunk.) 

And let's not forget Point Roberts, WA.

Oh, don't forget 'special' zip codes such as 44181 and my favorite
for survey-takers -- 20505.







-- 
A host is a host from coast to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 no one will talk to a host that's close[v].(301) 56-LINUX
Unless the host (that isn't close).pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead20915-1433



Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread Steven J. Sobol

On Sun, 1 May 2005, David Lesher wrote:

 Oh, don't forget 'special' zip codes such as 44181 and my favorite
 for survey-takers -- 20505.

There are plenty like 44181, which is Cleveland, Ohio's airmail facility, 
that don't represent physical locations. Others are 44101, the Cleveland 
main post office, and 44072, Novelty, Ohio (which doesn't exist as a 
municipality, only a post office; it's part of the town of South Russell).

Most ZIP codes do map to geographic locations, though, and even ones like
this aren't too hard to map if you know the area (44181=SW Cleveland by
the airport, 44101=downtown, 44072=South Russell).


-- 
JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638)
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / [EMAIL PROTECTED] / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED

The wisdom of a fool won't set you free   
--New Order, Bizarre Love Triangle



Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread Simon Lyall


This speculation is fun but my question is how do people do this now? I
would assume that many people on this list work for large companies with
multiple sites and a single phone network spanning them all.

When somebody in the office picks up a phone and dials EXTERNAL-911 how
do the emergancy services know they are in one building rather than another
office across town?

Anyway, everybody knows this whole thing with locating phones for
emergancy calls is just a smokescreen for the CIA/NSA/FBI/UN/RIAA being
able to track us 24x7 everywhere :)


-- 
Simon J. Lyall.  |   Very  Busy   |   Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To stay awake all night adds a day to your life - Stilgar | eMT.



Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread Sean Donelan

On Mon, 2 May 2005, Simon Lyall wrote:
 This speculation is fun but my question is how do people do this now? I
 would assume that many people on this list work for large companies with
 multiple sites and a single phone network spanning them all.

 When somebody in the office picks up a phone and dials EXTERNAL-911 how
 do the emergancy services know they are in one building rather than another
 office across town?

Perhaps they don't.

PBX's and nationwide tie-lines have been a problem for E911/ALI services
since the beginning.

PSAP call takers are trained to get/confirm the caller's location and the
location of the emergency because people don't always call from the
location of the emergency.  And there has always been a problem some
callers don't know, or are mistaken, about their current location.  Or
refer to their location by a different name, such as the Atlanta Olympic
Park bombing where the caller and the pay phone records referred to
a physical location which didn't exist in the police department's
dispatching computers even though the physical location was on television
every day of the Atlanta Olympics.

The most common way people solve this today is by installing at least
one ordinary POTS line in each building, and the PBX uses least-cost
routing to route E911 calls to the local line.  VOIP ATA's can do the same
thing by including a POTS jack on the ATA and connecting 9-1-1 calls to
the local POTS line.

There are more advanced methods, but they all involve someone updating
some database whenever a telephone is moved.  They all have the exact same
problem of assuming a person will keep the database with their current
location up to date.  People forget, or make mistakes, and its very
difficult to discover the mistakes in advance.

Life is complicated.


Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread David Lesher

Speaking on Deep Background, the Press Secretary whispered:
 
 
 
 
 When somebody in the office picks up a phone and dials EXTERNAL-911 how
 do the emergancy services know they are in one building rather than another
 office across town?

The PBX intercepts the call and uses special trunks to the PSAP;
it also has to send data telling where the caller is.

Here's one vendor: 
http://www.tonecommander.com/e911/How%20PBX%20ANI-LINK%20Works.htm



-- 
A host is a host from coast to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 no one will talk to a host that's close[v].(301) 56-LINUX
Unless the host (that isn't close).pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead20915-1433



Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread Randy Bush

 s/zipcode/unique geographic identifier on the rough order of a square 
 mile/
 Or have the server return the SNMP location information.  The network 
 operator would then be able to configure locally meaningful 
 information.

i figured that folk were welcome to smoke whatever they wanted on
the weekend.  but the hot air is getting pretty thick, and it's
almost 28c here, and the tradewinds are too light today whine.

so, do tell me the oh so simple and deployable solution that will
cover just how i use voip
  o asterisk server in seattle with gateways to 
- a few voip/pstn gateways
- peer asterisks in nigeria, ...
- and a direct pstn gateway or two
  o fixed sip phones about 10 miles from seattle but tunnel to
seattle 
  o fixed sip phones in hawaii about 2500 miles away from seattle
and they tunnel
  o same for los angeles
  o soft phones on various laptops, some tunnel some don't, but
they all meet the pstn via (not necessarily at) seattle
  o 802.11 sip phones with which we wander into all sorts of 802.11
hot spots around the globe, but they meet the pstn via (not
necessarily at) seattle
  o ...

when you have a scheme simple enough to be described in a screen of
ascii, and which lets me have control of my data privacy (it's none
of the fascists' business where i am unless i want to tell them),
i'll listen.  otherwise, i suggest you have some studying to do
rather than wasting your cred or trying to clue trogs such as jay.

randy



Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread Dean Anderson

On Sun, 1 May 2005, David Lesher wrote:

 
 Speaking on Deep Background, the Press Secretary whispered:
  
  
  
  
  When somebody in the office picks up a phone and dials EXTERNAL-911 how
  do the emergancy services know they are in one building rather than another
  office across town?
 
 The PBX intercepts the call and uses special trunks to the PSAP;
 it also has to send data telling where the caller is.
 
 Here's one vendor: 
 http://www.tonecommander.com/e911/How%20PBX%20ANI-LINK%20Works.htm

I think this scheme isn't going to work for VOIP. It relies on sending an
ANI ID code which is setup in the E911 database with a more exact address.
This is fine for a PBX with fixed phones. But it won't work for VOIP
phones that could be anywhere now and somewhere else in 10 minutes, just 
by plugging them in to a new jack (and don't forget wifi phones).

I think that VOIP phones will either ultimately be exempted, or required
to have GPS (or triangulation or some other scheme), and the ability to
send the GPS data to 911 services like cellphones.  (And GPS doesn't work
so well inside buildings, so I sort of doubt that its going to be very
good as a locator for VOIP phones).  I think that this is going to be a
hard problem to solve.

Or maybe we'll just start to see red phones next to the fire-alarm boxes.

--Dean



-- 
Av8 Internet   Prepared to pay a premium for better service?
www.av8.net faster, more reliable, better service
617 344 9000   




RE: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread Christopher L. Morrow

On Sun, 1 May 2005, Hannigan, Martin wrote:



  -Original Message-
  Chris Boyd
  On May 1, 2005, at 11:53 AM, Christopher L. Morrow wrote:
 
   so, how does this work when you dial into the internet in
  (or use your
   DSL) in newark and the termination point for L3 is in Philadelphia?
   That
   seems like more than 1sq mile...
  
 
  In the dial up case, you could/should know the originating number, so
  location can be determined from that.

 Right, this is standard CNAM/LIDB behavoir.

eh, for some reason in some regions we don't get this info. I do have to
check on newer installations I believe we started to require it after some
notable problems without it :(



Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread Christopher L. Morrow


On Mon, 2 May 2005, Niels Bakker wrote:


 * [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Sean Donelan) [Mon 02 May 2005, 01:45 CEST]:
 Why do you think the ISP knows anything more precise that the
 information they already give in the IN-ADDR.ARPA name?  Let's encode
 the ZIP Code in the router DNS name ... (well, someone had to suggest
 using DNS as the universal database solution eventually).

 Well that's fun... whenever you see a phone number you can get its
 physical location.  Doesn't sound like such a good idea to me,
 privacy-wise.

niels, always making it harder to stalk people :( darn you!


RE: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread Hannigan, Martin

 -Original Message-
 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of
 David Lesher
 Sent: Sunday, May 01, 2005 8:58 PM
 To: nanog list
 Subject: Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP
 
 
 
 Speaking on Deep Background, the Press Secretary whispered:
  
  
  
  
  When somebody in the office picks up a phone and dials 
 EXTERNAL-911 how
  do the emergancy services know they are in one building 
 rather than another
  office across town?
 
 The PBX intercepts the call and uses special trunks to the PSAP;
 it also has to send data telling where the caller is.

There are no special trunks to the PSAP from a PBX.

What Sean appears to be saying is he recommendeds getting a POTS line
as a backup to a ds1 for 911, but it's a tad-bit more complicated than
that and involves equipment types and tarriffs of CLECs vs. ILECs in 
router determination.

I agree with him on that mostly, but there's more to think about. SMB's
are not that sophisticated, are cost sensitive, and typically don't
have the equipment to handle that as well, or, the expertise.

YMMV.


-M


Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-05-01 Thread David Lesher

Speaking on Deep Background, the Press Secretary whispered:
 
  Here's one vendor: 
  http://www.tonecommander.com/e911/How%20PBX%20ANI-LINK%20Works.htm
 
 I think this scheme isn't going to work for VOIP. 

Well, yea.. It's not.

 I think that VOIP phones will either ultimately be exempted, or required
 to have GPS (or triangulation or some other scheme)

...that might worksometimes...

 Or maybe we'll just start to see red phones next to the fire-alarm boxes.

Alas, Gamewell fire boxes are all but dead. I don't know of any
city still running them. Too bad, because it was a dirt-simple
technology that Just Plain Worked. Looks like they were first
deployed in the 1850's.

Oops; NYC may still have some:
http://www.forgotten-ny.com/STREET%20SCENES/Fire%20Alarms%20page/Alarms.html.
And if http://plaws.net/fire/list.shtml is accurate, much of
Mass. Hmm.

OT explantion: There was a loop from the fire alarm office around
the city {or fraction thereof}, through each box, and back to
the office. One end had +130v {or so}; the other had -130.

When you pulled a box, it split the loop in half, and grounded
both halves in a sequence set on a spring-driven wheel (3 2 5
PAUSE 3 2 5). Think of that as the static IP address...

At the office, 2 pen registers recorded the loop current.

If two boxes (say 325 and 326) got pulled; 325 showed on the
one chart, 326 on the other.

We might have them still in wide use today if not for social
changes; the false-alarm rate is many times higher than voice
calls, and most departments gave up.

I think there are NANOG lessons in there. Sometimes, a less than
100% optimal technology is good enough to outlast many a newer
better faster sexier one... 


-- 
A host is a host from coast to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 no one will talk to a host that's close[v].(301) 56-LINUX
Unless the host (that isn't close).pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead20915-1433



Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-04-29 Thread Iljitsch van Beijnum
On 29-apr-2005, at 3:12, Owen DeLong wrote:
Maybe a satellite network that continuously transmit  location
beacon information which can be used to triangulate one's   
location would
do the trick?

I submit that I don't necessarily want my communications device or my
location tracked at all times by the government.
Well, adding a GPS receiver to a mobile VoIP phone doesn't  
automatically enable the government to track your location at all times.

My point is not the
need for location, but, that it is impractical to reliably implement
the traditional 911 model for VOIP.
I don't think VoIP is ever going to be as reliable as traditional  
telephony. But, neither are cell phones so that's not necessarily a  
disqualification.

The traditional 911 model depends on being able to make determination
of at least a roughly correct 911 service provider based on connection
point.  (Cell site, telco central office, service location, etc.).

None of these are available for many VOIP services.
But there is absolutely no reason why this feature can't be added to  
VoIP. The first order of business is for the phone to know its  
location. For truely mobile devices this probably means GPS, but for  
less mobile devices I can imagine a networked location discovery  
protocol: a periodic broadcast or a DHCP option or some such. The  
phone can then tell the SIP server or whatever similar system it uses  
what its location is, and the SIP server can then make call routing  
decisions based on the phone's location for certain types of calls.

For extra credit the paranoid among us may design a system where the  
SIP server only gets to hear the location when the user makes a call  
for which location information is required.

Don't forget that we're in a transition period right now. Right now  
VoIP is mostly used as a last mile technology which is a huge waste  
of potential. All of this will get much more interesting when end-to- 
end VoIP calls become the norm.



Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-04-29 Thread Peter Karin Dambier

 
 On 29-apr-2005, at 3:12, Owen DeLong wrote:
 
  Maybe a satellite network that continuously transmit  location
  beacon information which can be used to triangulate one's   
  location would
  do the trick?
 

Skype and public domain telefones dont know about location, 
nor will they ever learn.

The only place where somebody could catch a 911 call is at
a sip server.

The sip server does not know about the INAIC in Newyork
connecting me via tunnel from Germany. If they traced me
they would find my IPv6 tunnel endpoint in Japan.

Where to connect me? 
The Newyork police probably does not speak German.
In Germany emergency calls are 110 not 911.
If they connected me to Tokio police, they dont
speak german either.

The only way out for me to immagine is:

A big wooden plate with big letters and with letters for
blind people to touch, telling everybody how to dial
emergency - or open the window and shout for help.
That might be faster. 

Regards,
Peter Dambier

  I submit that I don't necessarily want my communications device or my
  location tracked at all times by the government.
 
 Well, adding a GPS receiver to a mobile VoIP phone doesn't  
 automatically enable the government to track your location at all times.
 
  My point is not the
  need for location, but, that it is impractical to reliably implement
  the traditional 911 model for VOIP.
 
 I don't think VoIP is ever going to be as reliable as traditional  
 telephony. But, neither are cell phones so that's not necessarily a  
 disqualification.
 
  The traditional 911 model depends on being able to make determination
  of at least a roughly correct 911 service provider based on connection
  point.  (Cell site, telco central office, service location, etc.).
 
  None of these are available for many VOIP services.
 
 But there is absolutely no reason why this feature can't be added to  
 VoIP. The first order of business is for the phone to know its  
 location. For truely mobile devices this probably means GPS, but for  
 less mobile devices I can imagine a networked location discovery  
 protocol: a periodic broadcast or a DHCP option or some such. The  
 phone can then tell the SIP server or whatever similar system it uses  
 what its location is, and the SIP server can then make call routing  
 decisions based on the phone's location for certain types of calls.
 
 For extra credit the paranoid among us may design a system where the  
 SIP server only gets to hear the location when the user makes a call  
 for which location information is required.
 
 Don't forget that we're in a transition period right now. Right now  
 VoIP is mostly used as a last mile technology which is a huge waste  
 of potential. All of this will get much more interesting when end-to- 
 end VoIP calls become the norm.
 

-- 
Peter und Karin Dambier 
Graeffstrasse 14 
D-64646 Heppenheim 
+49-6252-671788 (Telekom) 
+49-6252-599091 (O2 Genion) 
+1-360-226-6583-9738 (INAIC)
[EMAIL PROTECTED] 
www.peter-dambier.de
peter-dambier.site.voila.fr


RE: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-04-29 Thread Neil J. McRae

112 works in the UK but everyone just dials 999 usually 
for all the wrong reasons. 

 
  Hm... little question of interest ;)
  
  In Holland the number used to be 06-11, but was changed to a 
  so-called European Emergency number (112). Does this number also 
  work in Germany ? Back then the convincing argument was that the 
  number would work all across Europe from somewhere 2000'ish... ;)
  



Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-04-28 Thread Owen DeLong
Someone should show them some of the 802.11 based cellular-like SIP
phones and ask them how exactly they plan to get good geolocation data
for 911 on those and the soft-phone in my laptop.

Who exactly will I be talking to when I dial 911 from an internet cafe
in Puerto Vallarta through my Virgina VOIP account with a California
Billing address?

Owen


--On Thursday, April 28, 2005 4:45 PM + Fergie (Paul Ferguson)
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 
 
 A rather important turn of events.
 
 http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=33733
 
 - ferg
 
 --
 Fergie, a.k.a. Paul Ferguson
  Engineering Architecture for the Internet
  [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED]
  ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/



-- 
If it wasn't crypto-signed, it probably didn't come from me.


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Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-04-28 Thread Fergie (Paul Ferguson)


That's a good suggestion. :-)

There's another article today on Advanced IP Pipleine that
openswith the statement:

So far, new FCC chairman Kevin Martin isn't long on
solutions -- in fact, he's becoming part of the problem.

http://www.advancedippipeline.com/161601652

I prefer to remain nuetral on the topic. ;-)

- ferg

Owen DeLong [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

Someone should show them some of the 802.11 based cellular-like 
SIP
phones and ask them how exactly they plan to get good geolocation data
for 911 on those and the soft-phone in my laptop.

Who exactly will I be talking to when I dial 911 from an internet cafe
in Puerto Vallarta through my Virgina VOIP account with a California
Billing address?

Owen


--On Thursday, April 28, 2005 4:45 PM + Fergie (Paul Ferguson)
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 
 
 A rather important turn of events.
 
 http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=33733
 
 - ferg


--
Fergie, a.k.a. Paul Ferguson
 Engineering Architecture for the Internet
 [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/


Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-04-28 Thread Iljitsch van Beijnum
On 29-apr-2005, at 0:17, Owen DeLong wrote:
Someone should show them some of the 802.11 based cellular-like SIP
phones and ask them how exactly they plan to get good geolocation data
for 911 on those and the soft-phone in my laptop.

Who exactly will I be talking to when I dial 911 from an internet cafe
in Puerto Vallarta through my Virgina VOIP account with a California
Billing address?
You're absolutely right. I submit that if the US government wants  
location information for VoIP 911 calls, they should create an  
infrastructure that allows people to determine their location. Your  
example shows that this infrastructure should also be available  
outside the US. Maybe a satellite network that continuously transmit  
location beacon information which can be used to triangulate one's  
location would do the trick?




Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-04-28 Thread Mark Owen

Slashdotted
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/04/28/1938239
A few good arguments there

On 4/28/05, Fergie (Paul Ferguson) [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 
 
 A rather important turn of events.
 
 http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=33733
 
 - ferg
 
 --
 Fergie, a.k.a. Paul Ferguson
  Engineering Architecture for the Internet
  [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED]
  ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/
 


-- 
Mark Owen


Re: FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

2005-04-28 Thread Owen DeLong
 You're absolutely right. I submit that if the US government wants
 location information for VoIP 911 calls, they should create an
 infrastructure that allows people to determine their location. Your
 example shows that this infrastructure should also be available  outside
 the US. Maybe a satellite network that continuously transmit  location
 beacon information which can be used to triangulate one's  location would
 do the trick?

I submit that I don't necessarily want my communications device or my
location tracked at all times by the government.  My point is not the
need for location, but, that it is impractical to reliably implement
the traditional 911 model for VOIP.

The traditional 911 model depends on being able to make determination
of at least a roughly correct 911 service provider based on connection
point.  (Cell site, telco central office, service location, etc.).

None of these are available for many VOIP services.  I think that if
the focus were on delivering 911 service for fixed-location VOIP
systems, it would make much more sense.  However, the FCC, so far,
does not seem to understand that this distinction is possible or
relevant.

Owen



-- 
If it wasn't crypto-signed, it probably didn't come from me.


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