Michigan Takes Action Against Vonage On Emergency 911

The Michigan Attorney General has notified Vonage that it will take legal action against the VoIP provider for allegedly misleading consumers about Vonage's emergency 911 services. The Attorney General claims that Vonage customers in Michigan may not have access to traditional 911 emergency services, even though the firm implies that they will.

In a Notice of Intended Action (NIA) sent to Vonage last week, Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox claimed that the company has failed to make clear to customers that they will not have access to 911 services, and that 911 calls may not be answered outside of normal business hours.

"Vonage needs to make sure its customers understand that normal 911 access may not be available to them," Cox said in a statement. "Emergency calls made through Vonage's service are often routed through call centers that may not be answered outside of regular business hours."

Cox claims that Vonage advertises its "911 dialing" as a benefit, but that customers who use Vonage's service are not directed to operators who dispatch emergency vehicles, and instead are routed to call centers, which may not operate outside of normal business hours. Additionally, Cox claims, when emergency personnel receive a call from a Vonage customer, they may not be able to identify the caller's phone number or to have information displaying the caller's address.

"I don't know about most people, but I don't have the ability to time my emergencies," Cox said. "Vonage has ten days to respond to the NIA, or my office will file a lawsuit seeking injunctive relief and civil penalties."Vonage officials were unavailable for comment.