BellSouth 911 Offer

by alec on May 9, 2005

Telecom Web reports that Bellsouth has made an open offer to all VoIP providers to connect to it’s 911 routers.  BellSouth said, in a statement attributed to CTO Bill Smith, that the company has “committed to the expeditious development and offer for sale of a E911 product for VoIP providers” in response to a Vonage request for such action.

This is a start.  However, BellSouth’s solution still puts the burden on the VoIP provider to furnish the actual location of the customer premises equipment. 

Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry make Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.

{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

ellie drey May 28, 2006 at 8:08 pm

"Telecom Web reports that Bellsouth has made an open offer to all VoIP providers to connect to it’s 911 routers. BellSouth said,CTO Bill Smith in response to a Vonage request ."About time something has to be done to bring 911 and voip together, connecting the country to the safety of 911 .911 is for the safety of the community.I can't believe that voip hasnt been thought out and planned .911 should be on top 10 list of must have things in a new call service in my opinion.

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Alec May 29, 2006 at 2:24 am

No doubt, Ellie. I think the real issue is where the burden of providing location should lie – the operator of the VoIP service, or the underlying access provider. In my opinion, it's the latter.

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