Regulators should allow VoIP providers to implement 911 solutions...

“capabilities are already there” and “it’s very possible this technology will be provided without regulations.” But he said there needs to be “some monitoring mechanism” in place. Lorello said the industry should take “a network approach” rather than “a database approach” when solving 911 issues as applied to VoIP. He expressed concern that in VoIP, the industry has been taking a “more wireline” -- database -- approach, noting that VoIP “looks a lot more like wireless than wireline.” Lorello said TCS, which had been working on E911 solutions for wireless carriers for several years, came up with a network-based VoIP 911 solution that allows delivery of a 911 call to the right PSAP. He said the product’s first customer, CommPartners, was expected to start its deployment in the 4th quarter. He said customers would benefit from the network-based approach, which would allow networks to supply user location in real time. Under the other -- database -- approach, he said, it would take 24-48 hours to update the database every time a customer moved. But Lorello said both approaches still didn’t solve the problem of identifying the 911 caller’s location, requiring the caller to provide his location in advance. He predicted “in a few years, as we move to Wi-Fi handsets… they will be using technology used today in wireless handsets.” He said there would be a chip installed in VoIP handsets that would use GPS to supply a caller’s location.