Vonage: More than 94 Percent of Our VoIP U.S. Subscribers Now Have E911

By Johanne Torres

TMCnet Contributing Editor

 

VoIP service provider Vonage (News - Alert) announced that more than 94 percent of its subscriber lines in the U.S. are currently equipped with Enhanced 911 (E911) service. This feature associates a physical address with the calling party’s telephone number automatically. The move will allow the company to offer E911 to more than 2 million lines.

 

Vonage’s nomadic E911 system enables subscribers to reach a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP), or 911 center, through the dedicated 911 network infrastructure. Via the system, a customer’s call is automatically routed to the appropriate 911 center, with the caller’s registered street address and telephone number appearing on the dispatcher’s screen.

 

The VoIP service provider had announced last month that it outfitted 50 locally-run emergency call centers with E911across the nation. These upgrades bring the total number of calling centers with E911 services to more than 6,600.

 

“Today more than 2 million of our U.S. subscriber lines have full E911 capability, which is a tremendous step for Vonage,” commented Mike Snyder, CEO for Vonage. “Vonage will continue to work with the FCC (News - Alert), regulators, Congress and public safety officials until PSAPs across the nation are equipped with E911.”

 

Vonage began this year by announcing that Tim Smith, who had assumed the role of Vonage Network's interim president since June 2006, will keep the post permanently.

 

As president of Vonage Network, a subsidiary of VoIP service provider Vonage Holdings Corporation, Smith will be in charge of all of Vonage’s network and systems operations globally and manage the Vonage Network staff.

 

The executive held various management positions for companies including Sun Microsystems (News - Alert), UUNET Technologies and Wayport, before joining Vonage in July 2005 as SVP of Network and Systems Infrastructure.