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Press Release 28th September 2007
Warning over VoIP Telephones and access to emergency 999 services.
Are you one of the millions of people using a VoIP service (such as Skype) to make your calls across the Internet. Did you know that most providers currently DO NOT allow 999 calls to be made via there service?
It may come as a surprise to many non VoIP users that some providers such as Skype don’t allow 999 access and indeed it is worrying that any delay in making a 999 call whilst trying to locate a mobile phone of normal landline could in fact cause fatalities.
VoIP offers consumers many benefits including the prospect of cheaper calls and access to valuable new services such as call handling and unified messaging. The number of households who say they have used VoIP telephony has grown rapidly; from around 1.2 million households at the end of 2005 to around 2.4 million households at the end of 2006 and such growth is likely to continue.
Ofcom’s research shows that only 64% of UK households with VoIP use a supplier that provides 999 access.
Community-responders.co.uk ask you to check your service package.
We suggest clearly marking phones that cannot make 999 calls you also need to think about how you would make contact with the emergency services.
Ofcom Press for Mandatory 999 Access on VoIP
Ofcom are pressing for common sense to prevail by making it mandatory for VoIP providers to provide access to emergency numbers including 999 by the first half of 2008. Ofcom’s proposal published recently stated that any VoIP provider that allows their subscribers to make calls to landlines as part of their VoIP package must also offer access to the emergency services via 999.
It may come as a surprise to many non VoIP users that some providers such as Skype don’t allow 999 access and indeed it is worrying that any delay in making a 999 call whilst trying to locate a mobile phone of normal landline could in fact cause fatalities. The report suggested that enabling users to call 999 would cost just 90 pence per household per year - a very small cost when you consider the life threatening implications!
Many of the true VoIP companies who offer their services as a traditional phone replacement (such as Vonage VoIP and BT Total Broadband) rather than a cheap way of calling computer to computer already allow access to such numbers through their VoIP enabled phones.
A code of practice was put in place by Ofcom in March 2007 whereby VoIP providers have to make it clear in to potential users whether or not they include access to emergency calls as part of their service.
This is an excellent example of a regulator interjecting for the good of the consumer and can only be applauded.
The full Ofcom regulations can be read at Regulation of VoIP Services: Access to the Emergency Services
