Gregory Rhode, E-911 Institute dir., told a VoIP forum on Capitol...

up the Senate bill, despite the fact that the House has already passed an E-911 bill. The House passed HR-2898, which included $100 million annually for E-911 deployment. The Senate version, introduced by Senate Communications Subcommittee Chmn. Burns (R-Mont.), would devote $500 million a year, but the bill has stalled since passing the Senate Commerce Committee. Rhode said letting the House take a Senate bill, should one pass, would probably be easier than going to conference on the bill. During the forum, which was sponsored by the E-911 Institute, several panelists said it was important that E-911 standards be “technologically independent” so that different providers could use different technology, so long as all provided 911 service to VoIP, wireless and other users. “We should give organizations more incentive to evolve the system,” said Raymond Paddock, Intrado vp-industry association relations. Organizations should be able to use off-the-shelf products to meet E-911 requirements, he said. Timothy Lorello, TeleCommunication Systems senior vp, said the 10-digit phone number would eventually be used as a “key” that could provide 911 operators with information such as the users medical history. He said if the 911 issue isn’t solved for VoIP, the telephony service would become a “2nd class citizen” that would require disclaimers and discourage consumer use.