As an advanced digital communications technology, Voice over Internet Protocol has enjoyed solid development and widespread adoption with very few issues. About a decade ago, the most pressing for the VoIP industry was related to 911 emergency services, which did not work correctly when accessed from VoIP lines. This issue was eventually ironed out when the Enhanced 911 (E-911) solution was rolled out, but every now and then there are reports of unsuccessful calls made to 911 from VoIP devices.

Preparing Local Businesses with Emergency Services

An investigation by the local police department determined that the resident had not properly signed up with the E-911 system, which requires providing a physical address along with backup phone numbers, usually assigned to mobile devices, that are registered on the PSAP database.

Emergency 911 systems never ring busy because they have a rollover feature similar to the one provided by business VoIP systems. In the aforementioned case, the issue was traced back to the residential VoIP service provider.

Sonic VoIP clients should promptly report the address of the offices where VoIP lines are being used. Since VoIP systems can be vulnerable to power and internet outages, business owners may want to consider installing backup power supply solutions; moreover, a smartphone that can access the office VoIP system is a good idea in terms of emergency and disaster recovery planning.