I understand that most VoIP providers allow for 911 calling but that 911 service is not the same as that available to PSTN.
On Wed, 16 Jun 2004, Joe Baptista wrote:> Does anyone know how I can get information on howto contact the people > at the Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs)? Is there alist somewhere > I can reference.well, you could dial 911.. ;) But more seriously, I think I'd start by calling the non-emergency number for the local police/sheriff/fire dept and asking the dispatcher. Or maybe look up the Public Safety Commission (?) in the phonebook.. I'll be needing to give some attention to this issue soon, so I'll be interested to hear how the interaction with them goes. Greg
Joe, This is highly implementation specific. Perhaps I can give you some pointers to help you out. BTW, if you just happen to be in Texas, I can provide you with a list. "Regular" 911 calls are answered by a PSAP. Voip calls also goto a PSAP, but are handled differently. In fact, in most regions there aren't clear ways of handling these calls as of yet. Here are some pointers. 1. Do NOT call the PSAP. They are very busy, and in general are the WRONG organization to contact. Instead you want the "911 Agency" for the area you are to serve. This is either a "Council Of Governments" or an "Emergency Communications District" depending on when it was formed. For example, here in Houston, the 911 Agency just happens to be the "Harris County ECD". The Houston 911 Agency's website is (coincidential) http://www.911.org You must MUST start with them before you do ANYTHING 911. Certifications are required. http://www.nena.org is a good starting point.. Use "search" 2. If you are going to do 911, you must send LOCATION (ie: address) information to the 911 database. I do this through Intrado http://www.intrado.com through a product called "data exchange" 3. Depending on your connectivity, understand that the 911 agency and PSAP don't care what technology you use to connect to your customer. So if you can provide ANI, you are pretty much good to go. 4. For what it's worth; my traditional VoIP service offering will deliver 911 calls in the indentical manner as my non VoIP calls. If you'd like to talk specifics I can help you but I'd have to request that we take it off list since I feel that it is outside of the scope of the list. You can reach me at brett@utex.net -Brett -----Original Message----- From: asterisk-users-admin@lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users-admin@lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Joe Baptista Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2004 8:35 PM To: asterisk-users@lists.digium.com Subject: [Asterisk-Users] 911 emergency service and VoIP I understand that most VoIP providers allow for 911 calling but that 911 service is not the same as that available to PSTN.
Joe Baptista wrote:> I understand that most VoIP providers allow for 911 calling but that 911 > service is not the same as that available to PSTN. > >>From what I understand a 911 Call Will Go To A General Access Line at the > Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). This is different from the 911 > Emergency Response Center where traditional 911 calls go. > > Does anyone know how I can get information on howto contact the people at > the Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs)? Is there alist somewhere I > can reference. > > thanks > joe baptista >Joe, You are slightly confused. Let me explain how it works. When you place a 911 call, it is sent to the 911 selective router at the [I/C]LEC. The 911 selective router does an ALI (Automatic Location Identification) dip against the ANI (Automatic Number Identification) that is present on the call. The ANI is going to be the CallerID number that you/your provider present. When the ALI information is returned to the 911 selective router, it makes the decision which PSAP to send your call to based on the location in the ALI. The call is then routed to the PSAP. The PSAP gets the call and the ANI. They in turn do an ALI dig against the ANI to get the location information on their screens. If no ALI is present in the database for the ANI you're using, the call is "default routed" to the county PSAP because no "positive route" can be established without ALI information. When you call 911 without ALI information present, it is "911" service. When you make a call from an ANI that has accurate ALI information, you are using E911 or "Enhanced 911" service. If you have PRI service into your * server, it is possible - though not always easy - to set the ALI database information specific for each ANI (DID number) that you use. I do this with our PRI's. Depending on which number we present to the telco, the ALI is different. Now, what you describe might very well be how Vonage and other providers are providing 911 access but, it is most definately NOT even basic 911 as it doesn't go to the PSAP, even the default-route PSAP. It is simply them mapping 911 calls to go to "NPA-NXX-NXXX" instead. John