Vonage and 911
Vonage Phone Service Safety Features and 911 Dialing
Not all voice over internet protocol or VoIP service providers offer the emergency 911 dialing feature. Vonage phone service is one of the few VoIP providers that does. Your 911 dialing service is quickly set-up by filling in a short form when you set up your account. With a Vonage plan you can rest easy knowing that you will be able to reach 911 services during an emergency.
Enhanced 911 Calling and VoIP Services
If you have a Vonage plan, it is important to remember that the 911 dialing service will immediately transfer the registered information to the emergency response center in your area. This means that your street address and callback phone number will be sent to the emergency personnel as soon as you use your Vonage phone service to dial 911, provided that your emergency center is equipped to receive this information. This type of response is known as E911 service, and may not be available in all locations at this time. Not all VoIP services companies can integrate with current E911 services.
Basic 911 Calling and VoIP Services
If your emergency response center only has basic 911 dialing, they will require that you provide the street address and possibly even confirm the return call information. It is important for all members of the household to know this information and be able to provide it to emergency response operators in times of crisis. As emergency response centers upgrade to E911 capability Vonage will automatically upgrade your number, and you will not need to do anything to start this process. You will not be notified that the upgrade has been done, but you can call the customer support center and verify the update if required. Just remember that, with basic 911, local emergency operator that answers your call may not see your Vonage phone number and specified 911 address.
National Emergency Call Center
Vonage's national emergency center agents will ask for your name, telephone number and location and then transfer you to the local emergency center that is closest to you. If you set your 911 address to Outside the United States, that will route 911 calls to the Vonage National Emergency Call Center, not your local emergency services.
When 911 Calling Is Not Available
There are still some areas that do not have basic 911 calling. If you live in such an area your 911 calls will be automatically routed to the Vonage National Emergency Call Center, and will be answered by a trained agent that will obtain your address, callback number and any additional information required and then contact your local emergency response agency. This will also occur if your address falls into a non-911 call area or is not validated, if you are on a mobile device, or if you are identified with an international location. 911 calls from a softphone or WiFi device will automatically be routed through the Vonage emergency call center for an exact location of the call to be determined before contacting emergency services. Vonage phone service has setup a National Emergency Call Center to handle these incidents.
Moving or Traveling
Since Vonage phone service can move or travel with you, it is important to keep your information updated through your Vonage Account. If you don't update the account, then the last address on record will be the information sent to 911, which may not be up-to-date or correct. If you move it is critical you update your address with Vonage phone service. There is no cost to change your address on record, and the change may take a few hours to take effect. You will receive a confirmation email that the new address has been recorded.
Vonage 911 Dialing When Internet is Down
As Vonage phone service is of VoIP nature, having your broadband connection down means your phone service is down, too. Therefore, in situations of broadband or power outage, the 911 Dialing service will not function. In other words, in the event of a broadband or power outage or if your broadband, ISP or Vonage phone service is terminated, 911 calling will not work.
As you could see, there are some things to know about VoIP and 911 service. Here we talked about Vonage and 911. And here is more about VoIP and 911 in generic terms.
