Internet, Cell Phone Carriers Piecing Together e911 System

OK, so things are still kind of ‘up in the air’ in regards to the 911 system for the VoIP world. I guess we are making some progress at least, er, sort of.

A major shift is under way in the telecom industry.

People increasingly use cell phones rather than landlines. And businesses and consumers are cutting their telecom costs by installing voice over Internet protocol links.

As a result, calls are moving from the public switched telephone network, or PSTN, to next-generation communications, such as wireless networks and the Internet.

While these newer technologies offer many benefits to users and carriers, they have a limitation: They often don’t work well with emergency 911 services.

“Unfortunately, users may not know a network does not support 911 services until they make those calls,” said Bob Egan, president of the consulting firm Mobile Competency. [Read the rest]