APCO said it strongly opposed a Vonage request that public safety...
APCO said it strongly opposed a Vonage request that public safety officials accept VoIP emergency calls through their nonemergency administrative phone numbers as an alternative to 911. In a news release Fri., APCO said Vonage has asked that Public…
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Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) “be forced to alter their operations” and accept emergency calls on 10-digit numbers reserved for nonemergency calls. “This is not an acceptable solution, as it negates the benefits of a 21st century technology by reverting back to a 1960’s method of reporting life threatening emergencies,” said APCO Pres. Greg Ballentine. “Routing VoIP 911 calls to 10-digit emergency numbers disrupts and strains the limited resources of PSAPs,” he said. The 10-digit numbers generally carry nonemergency calls to police or fire departments or their employees. Vonage in an April 7 ex parte filing asked the FCC to issue rules prohibiting PSAPs from barring public access to administrative numbers. A Vonage spokeswoman said her company agrees with APCO that E-911 should be provided over existing architecture, but Vonage is seeking an “interim solution” until access can be worked out -- “the use of the 10-digit numbers that the wireless industry used while they worked toward E-911.” She said: “In our view, some access to emergency services is better than nothing. Without an interim 10-digit solution, there is no safety net for customers.”