Vonage's VoIP 511 to Aid Traffic Warriors

By Johanne Torres

TMCnet Contributing Editor

 

Vonage’s VoIP-based calling subscribers will now be able to receive local traffic reports right from their Vonage (News - Alert) phones. The service provider announced on Monday a new feature that will enable its subscribers to now dial 511 at no charge to receive this information directly from their area 511 systems.

Specifically, once a subscriber dials 511, their call is then routed from Vonage's network to their local 511 Advanced Traveler Information Service (ATIS). 511 calls are routed locally based upon the address the customer registered for their 911 service.

The VoIP provider made 511 available in each of the states or regions where the service is available. There are currently thirty 511 systems operating in 26 states.


Vonage’s 511 state coverage area includes Alaska Statewide, Arizona Statewide, Sacramento region and San Francisco Bay Area region in California; Colorado Statewide, Southeast Florida region, Central Florida/Orlando region and Tampa Bay region; Florida Statewide system (covering all areas not included in regional systems) Idaho Statewide, Iowa Statewide, Kansas Statewide, Kentucky Statewide, Maine Statewide, Minnesota Statewide, Montana Statewide, Nebraska Statewide, Nevada Statewide, New Hampshire Statewide, North Carolina Statewide, North Dakota Statewide, Ohio Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky region, Oregon Statewide, Rhode Island Statewide, South Dakota Statewide, Tennessee Statewide, Utah Statewide, Vermont Statewide, Virginia Statewide, Washington State Statewide and Wyoming Statewide.

“Vonage is pleased to offer its customers the convenience of 511 dialing to speed up their commute,” said Vonage America’s president, Michael Tribolet, in a statement. “This is just another example of Vonage answering its customer’s needs.”

VoIP 511 is the second free service Vonage has launched this month. The service provider joined forces with AccuWeather.com earlier this month to enable subscribers to access U.S. weather forecasts right from their Vonage-enabled phones.

Vonage’s customers will be able to access the information by simply calling 700-WEATHER from any Vonage-enabled device and get current weather conditions, 5-day forecasts and severe-weather warnings, courtesy of AccuWeather.com. AccuWeather.com offers customized business or vacation travel weather information when subscribers enter any U.S. 5-digit ZIP code.

Specifically, AccuWeather.com will provide weather data to Vonage via synthetic speech markup language (SSML) AccuWeather’s forecasts, covering all U.S. locations in the U.S., which are then translated by Vonage into a “realistic-sounding” synthetic voice which will be heard by subscribers they call 700-WEATHER for a forecast.

Vonage Corporate Holdings

http://www.vonage.com

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Johanne Torres is contributing editor for TMCnet and INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine. To see more articles by Johanne Torres, please visit her columnist page.