Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

As with any changes to the way we communicate making it much bigger issue for the emergency services, Dan Worth of BAPCO reported from The London Fire Brigade Training Centre, where the South East Region conference, “What does VoIP offer?”, was held recently.
The curate’s egg that is VoIP is currently presenting both positives and problems and it still requires a critical eye to make sure technology does not lead purely because it can. But as conferences such as this demonstrate, there are companies and protocols being developed all the time that the emergency services will be able to turn to for guidance.

The 33 delegates in attendance (plus attendees from exhibiting companies) also enjoyed guided tours of the London Fire Brigade Museum that had been organized so they could appreciate how far emergency services had developed over the years.

Companies exhibiting at the conference were: Avaya, APD, Mercury – Technology, CYFAS, Samdale, Extreme Networks, Arqiva, Resilience Communications and Milltelecom.

Bapco report includes;
Transforming communication using VoIP
Bruce Everest, Emergency Technologies Director, Avaya
Bruce Everest of Avaya, the sponsor for the day, looked at how VoIP has impacted companies and the emergency services from a business point of view.

The Emergency Services’ perspective
Lee Warhurst, Secretary to ACPO Communications Group
Serving Police Officer Lee Warhurst gave some perspectives on the Emergency Services’ concerns with regard to emergency calls being made over VoIP systems, as well as giving an overview of the Ofcom consultations into the regulation of VoIP services and the potential issues this has raised.

Handling VoIP emergency calls
John Medland, BT 999 Policy Manager
Starting with some statistics John Medland underlined that VoIP only makes up a relatively small percentage of the calls that come through to emergency centre control rooms – about 1,000 a month compared to 2.4 million a month from fixed and mobile numbers. But despite this the issues surrounding VoIP still demand serious attention.

VoIP forensics and evidence gathering
Mark Hayward, Security Consultant, SELEX Communications
The talk was opened with the straight-to-the-point statement that ‘VoIP is hackable’, and Mark went on to outline some of the ways in which this can happen. He also looked at some of the actual and potential solutions to this hacking. Flooding the network with info to stop voice calls being made, eavesdropping on conversations to gather information or even to save money are some of the way VoIP can be attacked. Identity fraud can take place too and there are numerous free-to-download programs designed to allow people to hack into VoIP accounts.

Converged communications within public sector and Emergency Services
Kelly Scott, Extreme Networks
The final talk of the day focused on the need for a network infrastructure that provides organizations, groups, and people, a secure, reliable and available environment to guarantee application delivery and combat the security issues of today’s networks.
One could find the complete article VOIP - out with the old in with the new.

Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

ITSPA, Internet Telephony Services Providers’ Association, has announced its general support for Ofcom’s decision to make 999 mandatory for certain types of VoIP services. From 8 September 2008, all VoIP services that allow users to make calls to normal national phone numbers (Type 2 and Type 4 services) will have to provide a 999/112 service.
ITSPA Chair Eli Katz said: “ITSPA has always advocated the requirement for VoIP services to offer 999 and many of its members are already providing this service. Whilst we have had some concerns with aspects of the proposals and timescales for implementation, we are supportive of the Ofcom statement. We look forward to working with the regulator to ensure all our members are compliant by next September.”
ITSPA will be keen to make sure that Ofcom enforces this statement properly, along with the other regulatory changes made this year. This should include all providers, offering a service to UK customers, including those that operate from overseas.
Points which ITSPA are keen to highlight:
1. Ofcom’s announcement is in line with proposals across the European Union to require all providers of standard phone services to provide access to emergency services.
2. ITSPA’s main concern has been the additional regulatory obligations, which attach complexity and cost to the provision of 999 access. Some VoIP providers who were not
previously subject to these regulations will find themselves now classed as providers of “publicly available telephony services” and thus subject to extra obligations. ITSPA has
long advocated the delinkage of PATS obligations with 999 access and welcome the recent ERG paper which supports this idea. It also welcomes proposed changes in definition
within the EU Telecoms Framework Review.
3. There are a number of elements in terms of cost and time for VoIP providers, which need to be considered. While ITSPA deems it feasible, there are a number of technical, legal
and contractual hoops to go through. We would have preferred a 12 month timescale to be compliant with all PATS conditions and to establish an interface with a 999 operator.
4. In terms of location information, ITPSA members are working within the NICC to provide a resilient solution to this problem.
The ITSPA Press release.

Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

OFCOM the Telecom regulator in UK is concerned that VoIP providers do not provide emergency services calls and has decided to act because of the growing popularity of VoIP. We have reported about it in last July but now OFCOM have released the revised documentations and regulations.
Ofcom said the same condition will apply to VoIP providers from 8th September next year. Traditional landline and mobile telephones provide emergency services for free on 999 and 112 equivalent of 911 in the USA. In USA all VoIP Providers need to provide E911 Services. FCC is the regulatory equivalent of OFCOM.
OFCOM has laid out all the necessary requirements including exclusions and inclusions. All the information could be found here at the OFCOM announcement.