Source: www.voip-news.com

E911 Manager from RedSky Technologies is compatible with Nortel Communications Server 1000 (CS1000). The company just announced the success completion of testing in a Nortel lab. The product is also compatible with Nortel’s CS2100 server.

“RedSky offers a comprehensive E911 solution for Nortel CS 2100 and CS 1000 customers. E911 Manager’s enhanced Network Discovery is ideal for large customers who need to identify callers down to the desktop,” said Bob Kimble, RedSky director of Business Development for the Nortel Channel.

E911 Manager automatically tracks and manages location information for analog, digital and IP phones, allowing for the easy locating of employees in emergencies.

According to the companies:

The Communication Server 1000 is a full-featured IP PBX solution and a cornerstone for Enterprise unified communications deployments from a few hundred to several thousand users. The Communication Server 1000 provides the benefits of a converged network plus advanced applications and over 750 world-class telephony features. Fully distributed over IP LAN & WAN infrastructure with built-in reliability and survivability, Communication Server 1000 supports business-critical applications, including unified messaging, customer contact center, IVR, wireless VoIP and IP phones.

The Communication Server 2100 is a large-scale enterprise converged solution based on its carrier derivative, the Communication Server 2000, which is deployed and proven in the world’s leading service providers’ networks. The Communication Server 2100 addresses the needs of demanding large enterprises and the U.S. government with a highly scalable converged solution deploying a “best of all worlds” philosophy. The Communication Server 2100 incorporates Nortel’s leading enterprise features and applications, plus combines the carrier attributes of scalability, reliability and networking typically only found in carrier solutions.

Source: www.voip-news.com

Lompoc, California, is planning a test of their reverse-911 calling in early January. The city has the system in place so that it can call residents in the event of an emergency.

However, if your primary phone is a cell phone or VoIP phone, then you need to make sure that you register the phone with the city so that you are added to the list.

According to MSNBC:

“We will use it if there’s some kind of natural disaster, say a flood, or a wildfire. It was used the summer before last on the Lompoc Cemetery Fire,” Capt. Larry Ralston of the Lompoc Police Department said.

The system will automatically call listed and unlisted telephone numbers within the affected area and deliver the recorded message.

Source: www.voip-news.com

XO Communications has inked a deal with VIXXI Solutions.

Under the agreement, XO will refer their customers to VIXXI Solutions for their E911 needs. According to XO: “VIXXI was chosen because their IP-based, geospatial technology is ideal for VoIP vendors who are required by the FCC to provide their customers with an E911 Solution that identifies caller location information and correctly routes emergency calls to the appropriate PSAP.”

XO considered factors like speed of deployment, cost-effectiveness, flexibility, scalability and compliance when choosing the vendor. VIXXI’s geospatial routing set them apart.

Source: www.voip-news.com

E911 providers say that compliance with the new E911 rules is critical for VoIP companies in light of Monday’s FCC ruling that strengthened compliance rules. Failure to adhere to E911 rules could negatively impact sales and create unnecessary liability.

VIXXI, an E911 provider, is using what they call “efficient geospatial technology,” that exceeds compliancy standards and lowers costs for VoIP providers.

“It’s important for VoIP companies to understand the risk of not providing the best E911 technology available, both from a liability and sales perspective. Consumers are considering 911 functionality and their family’s safety when selecting a VoIP provider,” said Stefanie Linnemann, Marketing Analyst for VIXXI. “The good news is that VoIP providers can protect their customers with minimal time and resource investment. Efficient IP technology saves our customers 20% or more off their current E911 costs.”

According to VIXXI:

While E911 historically has been a challenge that comes with the territory for VoIP providers, companies like VIXXI are making it easy to provide exceptional E911 functionality at aggressive prices. E911 is no longer a necessary distraction from a VoIP provider’s core business; it has evolved into a means for VoIP companies to quickly and cost-effectively differentiate themselves in an area of high priority for voice consumers.

Source: www.voip-news.com

Well, here’s a steal. Vaioni is offering its hosted business class VoIP for just £6 per user per month. Read about it at VoIP News of the UK.

Here’s a big deal going on: Logitech is buying SightSpeed for $30 million. Read about it here.

The FCC has ordered all VoIP providers to provide access to E911. Read it here.

Source: www.voip-news.com

Having 911 services for VoIP is without a doubt extremely important. In fact, 911 is an essential service for winning over new customers. Vixxi Solution’s E-911 service for their VoIP network will come from Level 3.

According to the companies:

Under the terms of this agreement, Vixxi will leverage Level 3’s extensive geographic presence to route 911 calls to the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) over the nationwide 911 infrastructure, thereby expanding Vixxi’s coverage to provide FCC compliant nomadic E-911 capabilities to service providers. Vixxi’s database capability will identify the customer’s location and then send the call to Level 3 with routing instructions to terminate the call to the geographically relevant PSAP.

“Aligning ourselves with the Level 3 network enables expanded coverage of our Enhanced 911 services to customers across the nation,” said Christopher Camut, Chief Executive Officer of Vixxi Solutions. “With a comprehensive solutions portfolio and proven E-911 expertise, Level 3 will help us to provide a better, more extended reach in support of public safety.”

Source: www.voip-news.com

Aww, isn’t that cute?

Vonages is pleased to bits about the New and Emerging Technologies 911 Improvement Act of 2008 that President George W. Bush signed into law this week.

Of course they are. Would you have expected them to send out a release announcing the fact that they were displeased that one of the big obstacles to getting people to convert to VoIP was torn down for them? Seriously, get real.

“Vonage is grateful to the President and Congress for making this legislation a reality. It will enable Vonage and other VoIP providers to better support first responders in times of emergency,” said Jeffrey Citron, Chairman, Chief Strategist, and Interim CEO of Vonage. “While over 98% of our subscriber lines already have access to E911, enactment of this law provides additional tools and leadership for platform neutral, responder friendly safety communications.”

You don’t say …

Source: www.voip-news.com

Good news for those who are eschewing landlines for mobile phones and VoIP: A new law has been passed that ensures the improvement of the country’s 911 system so that it can handle routing calls from cell phones and VoIP systems.

According to The Murfreesboro Post:

The new law will shore up the nation’s 911 networks by giving Voice Over Internet Protocol, or VOIP, phone service providers direct access to the 911 system at the same rates, terms and conditions, as wireless phone providers. It authorizes VOIP service providers to provide customer location information to public safety answering points during emergencies.

It extends existing state laws protecting 911 calls made using wireline and wireless phones to VOIP 911 calls, to any services obligated by the Federal Communications Commission to provide 911 in the future, and to any services that coordinate local 911 authorities and voluntary 911 emergency services.

Source: www.voip-news.com

Folks in Ventura County, California, will now receive automatic Reverse 911 calls in case of emergency. The new system works with landlines, mobile phones, VoIP and TTY. Potential uses for the system include alerting people to evacuations, hazards or water problems.

Landline numbers — both listed and unlisted — were already added to the calling list. VoIP users and cell phone users who want their numbers included need to sign them up.

For directions and more information, click here.

Source: www.voip-news.com

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the New and Emerging Technologies 911 Improvement Act of 2008. The act allows VoIP providers to interconnect to the traditional 911 network that incumbent telephone providers operate.

“Vonage is grateful for the many efforts in Congress to make this legislation a priority. It helps consumers, Public Safety and Vonage support the best possible emergency solution,” said Jeffrey Citron, Chairman, Chief Strategist, and Interim CEO of Vonage. “With over 98% of our subscriber’s lines with access to E911, Congress has provided additional tools, leadership and encouragement to get all parties to work together.”

The bill had already passed the U.S. Senate and is awaiting presidential approval.

Vonage’s E911 solution automatically connects customer calls to the appropriate 911 center.

Source: www.theregister.co.uk

A Canadian toddler has died after a VOIP-based 911 call sent an ambulance to the wrong address.

Last week, as reported by the CBC, a Calgary family dialed 911 via their internet phone service when 18-month-old Elijah Luck went into medical distress. Their VOIP provider, Comwave, then dispatched an ambulance to the family’s former home in Mississauga, Ontario, more than twenty-five-hundred miles away.

After waiting over half an hour, the family said, they made another emergency call from a neighbor’s land line phone. An ambulance arrived within six minutes, but the toddler was later pronounced dead at the Alberta Children’s Hospital.

"This is a first for Canada, and it’s a tragic one," Paul Godin, a spokesperson for te Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), the country’s telcom regulator, told The Reg. "This was a very young boy."

Comwave did not respond to requests for comment. But according to the CBC, the company did not have the family’s latest address on file, and it says that customers are responsible for providing the company with updated emergency information. This is confirmed by Godin.

With traditional phone lines and so-called "fixed" VOIP lines provided by cable operators, emergency calls are automatically routed to the nearest 911 call center. But certain "nomadic" VOIP services don’t map customers to a physical location, and 911 calls must be routed manually.

"With nomadic 911, calls are channeled to an answering service provided by your VOIP company," Godin explains. "And that answering service channels your call to a 911 call center. So it’s a two step approach, rather than the one-step you get with a regular land line."

Elijah Luck’s aunt, Sylvia Luck, said that when she dialed 911 via Comwave’s service, no one answered after five rings. Then she received a call back from a call center than Comwave contracts with in Concord, Ontario. Sylvia Luck said she gave the family’s Calgary address to the operator, but the ambulance was sent to Mississauga.

The CRTC is investigating the call, but won’t share details until the investigation is complete. "We’re just going over the recording of the emergency call now and we need to analyze that before we make a statement one way or another," Godin tells us.

The commission’s rules require nomadic VoIP providers to explain their 911 procedures when a customer signs up and remind them of the procedures at least once a year. Elijah Luck’s family switched to Comwave’s service three years ago, after moving to Calgary from Mississauga.

"If I’m the nomadic vendor, I have explain to the customer the limitations of my 911 services," Godin says. "And the customer to sign a form that says they understand the shortcomings."

The CRTC is also working on a plan to improve nomadic 911 services. "We want to make this as good as other 911 services. We’re going through the various steps to make this happen. We need to have everyone involved in the emergency systems to cooperate in providing the right technology and we need to make sure the technology works. The question is who will pay for this infrastructure upgrade." ®

Source: www.voip-news.com

Voice Security Blog has a video from VoiceCON. Click here to head over there and check it out.

No Jitter asks if you would give up your wired system for a wireless one. Check out the in depth look at the possible answers to this question here.

Voice Over IP Weblog wonders if VoIP providers will get equal access to 911 – like they are supposed to. Read it here.