Verizon offers E911 to VoIP companies

Verizon will offer connections to its E911 service as a wholesale offering to voice-over-IP providers, beginning this summer in New York City. If the service works as expected, it will be rolled out across Verizon territory, the company said today.

Some VoIP providers have come under fire recently for not automatically providing their customers with E911 capabilities that identify the customer location instantaneously when a call for help is made. In turn, they have criticized incumbent telcos for not making available access to the public safety access points (PSAP) that support the E911 service nationally. Verizon's new offering will enable VoIP providers to connect to PSAPs through its E911 emergency calling system.

VoIP customers will still have to provide their physical location and keep that information up-to-date, said a Verizon spokesman.

"The VoIP customer must still properly identify themselves to their service provider and, if that location changes, provide that information to the VoIP provider," the spokesman said.

The customer location can become an issue when VoIP customers take their analog telephone adapters with them to use when traveling.

The new service offering will utilize Verizon's existing tariffed service for dedicated trunks that allow VoIP providers to access the E911 system, and will become part of Verizon's existing wholesale service portfolio, if all goes as planned.

"There was a need for all the different parties involved in this to get together to discuss the solution and we are doing that," the spokesman said. "Our costs are covered under the tariff. But in a larger sense, we are concerned about public safety and we want to be part of a solution," particularly as VoIP providers proliferate.

Verizon is already in negotiations with VoIP providers and with the third party vendors that often provide the database and software systems VoIP providers use for E911 and other functions, he said.