Enhanced 911 is avaliable

In a recent ruling handed down from the Federal Communications Commission ensuring that all VoIP providers must have E911 capability. E911 stands for Enhanced 911 which is a technological advance by the Federal Communications Commission to enable the emergency services to locate the geographic position of the caller.

In the past it was difficult for VoIP users to be located in an efficient manner by an emergency dispatcher. In the past few month’s the FFC has made great advances to ensure that E911 is a standard feature on all VoIP plans; not an optional feature. The IP-Enabled Voice Communications and Public Safety Act requires VoIP providers to ensure that 911 and Enhanced 911 (E911) services are available to all customers.

Within this act VoIP provider must make available all information concerning call back numbers and location information of their customers to emergency operators. They must also allow consumers to access as well as update their personal information from any location.

VoIP providers will have no more than 120 days from the active date of the order to ensure these new requirements are meet. The active date is expected to be some time this fall.