Calling 911 Doesn't Always Mean Help is On the Way
Many VoIP phone (i.e. Internet phone) users do not realize their 911 service does not work like traditional 911 on landlines. APAs need to be especially aware since this group is the largest among VoIP phone users.
Peter John will never forget Feb. 2, 2005. Two armed robbers had burst into his Houston home, shooting both him and his wife Sosomma in the thigh before fleeing. Now they lay bleeding in the front hallway while their teenage daughter Joyce tried frantically to reach 911 emergency services from an upstairs phone.
But after several attempts and trying different phones in the house, Joyce could only get a recorded message after trying to call 911 on their VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) 
phone. In desperation, Joyce raced over to a neighbor’s home where she was finally able to reach 911 and help her parents.
Although precious moments had been lost, the Johns survived their ordeal. Others have not been so lucky. Cheryl Waller of Deltona, Florida could not reach 911 on her VoIP phone last March after her three-month-old daughter Julia stopped breathing. She too sought her neighbor’s help but by the time she was able to reach emergency personnel her daughter had died.
Tragic stories like these have been echoed across the country and the common link has been the use of VoIP phones that allow users to make phone calls by using an Internet connection. But unbeknownst to many users, 911 services on VoIP phones does not work like traditional 911 on landlines and often does not guarantee a connection to emergency personnel.
“It was a devastating experience. My life was in danger,” said Peter, who relayed his experience to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last May. “God protected my life. There is a danger out there. Precious moments we missed just because of technical problems.”
Asian Pacific Americans make up the largest group of users of VoIP phones, a service provided by companies such as Vonage, Net2Phone, Lingo, and AT&T CallVantage. Many APAs use the service for overseas business and attractive phone packages that offer cheap long distance rates to Asia are often scooped up.
In a study conducted by the U.S. Internet Industry Association (USIIA), more than 90 percent of English-speaking AAs use broadband and IP communications such as VoIP, the highest percentage of any other group. The study also found that 80 percent of English-speaking Hispanics use IP and broadband services and 74 percent of White Americans use these services.
Currently there are an estimated 2.9 million VoIP customers across the country.
“The APA community culturally has the BlackBerries, the latest cell phones … My 73-year-old mom is texting me. So it’s understandable that APAs are affected by this,” said Lyle Ishida, AAPI program manager for the FCC Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau.
But many APAs are still unaware that if ever they need 911 services using their VoIP phones, help may not always be a call away. That’s why Lyle is working with various community groups to try and get the word out to the APA community.
“We do not want anymore repeats of stories like this,” he said referring to the tragic stories like those of the Johns and Wallers. “We want to fix the problem before it happens. Get the word out there.”
Since 911 emergency services came into effect in 1965, people have become accustomed to dialing 9-1-1 and reaching and receiving help. Since VoIP phones look and work like traditional phones, many users today are unaware that their 911 service works differently than traditional 911.
The main difficulty with VoIP phones is that the 10-digit numbers are connected to an IP address not a physical address. Thus, 911 emergency personnel are not able to locate a caller’s physical address or call back number as they would with landline users. With VoIP basic 911 service, calls are routed to non-emergency lines at centers with regular office hours so if they are closed, callers are out of luck.
VoIP service providers are currently rolling out “Enhanced 911” or E911 where calls are sent to a 911 network which then connects to a local 911 dispatching center. With E911, emergency dispatchers are able to see the caller’s location and call back numbers. Although most VoIP users have the basic 911 service, not all customers have access to E911 as of yet.
Last May the FCC heard testimony of failed 911 calls by VoIP users and in June issued an order to VoIP service providers to provide full 911 emergency services to their customers by Nov. 28, 2005. Although the FCC backed off of the original deadline, VoIP companies must still provide their customers with E911 and until they do they cannot market services or add new customers.
Currently, a Senate bill looks to force VoIP service providers to charge Universal Service Fees to their customers, something phone and cell phone companies already do. These fees help pay for 911 emergency services.
Stephen Seitz, vice president of 911 regulatory affairs for Vonage, the leading provider of VoIP services with 1.8 million subscribers, says close to 90 percent of their customers now have E911 with Los Angeles being the latest city to get the service.
But he also noted the company has not done any specific outreach to the AA community regarding the issues surrounding 911 service.
“There is no language specific information out there but we have done outreach according to the FCC order,” said Seitz.
Although E911 is being offered by VoIP companies, it is still up to the customer to register their locations and contact numbers in case of an emergency. Since VoIP phones are mobile, each time a location is changed the user must reregister their location so local emergency personnel can receive the correct information.
“We understand that it’s an ongoing process and we look forward to getting it working,” said Ishida. But he also noted that the registration process for E911 is “too confusing” for many of the Asian customers. “They don’t understand the forms.”
Currently VoIP companies do not provide translated materials of their terms of service or E911 registration instructions. To compensate, the FCC is working on translated materials in several Asian languages including Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Japanese.
In the meantime Ishida hopes community organizations, getting the information out in the ethnic press, and word-of-mouth will help inform the APA community about VoIP services and 911 calls.
“I really think it’s incumbent upon us to get the word out. Nothing will beat information,” said Ishida.
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