http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/internet/03/23/internet.phones.911.ap/index.html
That's "sued," not "sold."
And it's a silly case, 'cause Vonage goes to great lengths to
remind new subscribers to configure the service with the real,
physical location of their phone. Or at least, they bugged me a
lot when I signed up late last year.
From: owner-nanog@merit.edu [mailto:owner-nanog@merit.edu] On Behalf Of
J.D. Falk
Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2005 1:37 AM
Subject: Re: Vonage sold over not clearly informing customers re 911
service lacking
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/internet/03/23/internet.phones.911.ap/index.htm
l
That's "sued," not "sold."
And it's a silly case, 'cause Vonage goes to great lengths to
remind new subscribers to configure the service with the real,
physical location of their phone. Or at least, they bugged me a
lot when I signed up late last year.
Or it's not so silly. The 911 service Vonage prodded you to configure is not
quite the same as calling 911 from a landline (see below). So even though
you told Vonage where you are and they send your call to the right building
you still need to be transferred to the 9-11 call center and you still need
to tell them where you are.
Your Call Will Go To A General Access Line at the Public Safety Answering
Point (PSAP). This is different from the 911 Emergency Response Center where
traditional 911 calls go.
* This means your call goes to a different phone number than traditional
911 calls. Also, you will need to state the nature of your emergency
promptly and clearly, including your location and telephone number, as
Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) personnel will NOT have this
information on hand.
I'm not sure why Vonage couldn't offer a service to have 911 ring to a number you specify. In our town, the alarm companies and anyone on a cell phone who wants to reach the proper police department knows to call the "non-emergency" number at the dispatch center. Though the call doesn't come in over the official 911 circuit, our dispatchers do not treat that line as less important. Why not just let us map 911 to that number?
As you note, they offer to map it to some other location, which isn't in the same place. My impression is you get a middleman like you would with OnStar or similar.