VoIP users do not automatically get access to 911 emergency lines

• � Internet protocol: Most VoIP service providers do not automatically connect with local 911 networks.
• � Capitol idea: Local 911 network officials hope to work with area congressmen to ensure that customers are routed directly to 911 dispatchers.
• John and his wife, Sosamma, were attacked by two men at their southwest Houston home earlier this month.
• The attackers fled, leaving a shaken John wondering whether to reconsider his money-saving phone plan.
• Officials at the Greater Harris County 9-1-1 Emergency Network, which oversees 911 service in Harris and Fort Bend counties, agree.
• "The key drawback for us is that most of the IP service providers don't interconnect with the 911 network," Executive Director John Melcher said.
• IP stands for Internet Protocol, short for Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, a broadband technology that routes telephone calls over the Internet rather than phone lines.
• The attraction for a growing number of consumers and businesses across the country is cheaper phone service.
• For about $32 a month, the John family can make an unlimited number of local and long-distance calls under the plan provided by Vonage.
• But unless they sign up for service that routes calls to emergency dispatchers, the family cannot contact the local 911 network.
• The Federal Communications Commission is expected to consider rules governing Internet phone companies in April or May, agency spokesman Mark Wigfield said.
• Internet telephone providers usually route 911 calls to emergency call centers on nonemergency lines, said Sonya Lopez Clauson, spokeswoman for the Greater Harris County 9-1-1 Emergency Network.
• Unlike calls from traditional telephones, a caller's location and phone number do not appear on dispatchers' screens.
• In Rhode Island, the New Jersey-based Vonage provides customers with direct and enhanced 911 access over a call routing system controlled by the state, company spokesman Jamie Serino said.