The nation's leading Internet telephony service moved closer to offering a complete emergency calling service Monday, signing an agreement with a vendor experienced in providing enhanced 911 data to public safety officials.
The agreement between phone pioneer Vonage and TeleCommunications Systems Inc. to provide call routing and steering services is an important component in meeting an Internet phone emergency calling requirement enacted by the Federal Communications Commission in May.
Schulz said that the company has also made progress in another vital aspect of emergency calling--interconnections with SBC Communications Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and other dominant traditional phone companies to reach public safety dispatchers.
For example, a Vonage customer with a Chicago phone number can take his phone to a hotel room in New York City or San Francisco and plug it into a broadband connection there.
Callers dialing the Chicago number will reach the Vonage customer wherever he takes the phone.
But this mobility poses a challenge when an Internet phone is used to dial 911.
No technology exists to provide location information automatically, Schulz said, although researchers are working in labs to produce it.
Some companies that offer VoIP service, including most cable television operators, do not include mobility as an option, so the problem of identifying a customer's location and directing the 911 call to the appropriate public safety dispatcher is greatly simplified.
While VoIP makes up a tiny fraction of telephone service now, analysts expect that it will eventually dominate the industry.
A survey released Monday suggests that Internet telephony's appeal continues to grow among so-called early adopters of new technology.
ChangeWave Research, which polls executives and professionals in selected industries, found that this technologically elite group is warming to VoIP rather quickly.