Verizon Dials Up 911 VoIP Solution

Verizon Communications said it will provide VoIP providers with a solution that will let them use Verizon's enhanced 911 emergency calling system.

Problems handling 911 emergency numbers have been a major hurdle for VoIP providers, but positive movement in recent days by major landline carriers is being hailed by VoIP companies.

"Working with VoIP companies and their vendors, we have identified a means to route VoIP calls so that they appear in emergency response centers much the way wireline and wireless 911 calls do," said Michael O'Connor, Verizon's executive director of federal regulatory affairs, in a statement Tuesday.

The Verizon statement coincides with efforts by Qwest Communications and SBC Communications to solve the 911 problem with Vonage, North America's largest VoIP provider. The remaining former Baby Bell, BellSouth, is also said to be working on the problem. More than 90 percent of U.S. landline telephone service is provided by the former Bells. Their means of communicating with 911 dispatch numbers is not compatible with VoIP phoning, particularly where VoIP moves over cable broadband.

Verizon said its VoIP 911 service will be offered in New York City this summer, and, if successful, it will be replicated in additional Verizon locations."After discussions with VoIP providers and the emergency services community, we believe that we have identified an arrangement that meets the needs of both groups and enables VoIP providers to offer their customers significantly better 911 services than they receive today," O'Connor said. "And, unlike proposals previously made by the VoIP community, the arrangement does not introduce new types of security vulnerabilities to the E911 system."

Qwest broke the 911 VoIP ice earlier this month after it trialed Vonage's E-911 solution in Washington state. The success of the Qwest trial put pressure on the three remaining former Baby Bells. On Monday, SBC said it offered an agreement with Vonage on providing the emergency services, according to media reports.

Providing E-911 services for VoIP will still require the Internet telephony providers and their customers to deliver current location data to ensure that 911 calls are routed to the appropriate 911 dispatcher.

The issue has been a problem for Vonage, which was sued last month by the Texas attorney general, who complained that Vonage misled consumers about its 911 emergency services.