VoIP providers don't know what to do

Submitted by acohill on Thu, 07/21/2005 - 13:46

Voice over IP phone providers are trying to get their customers to acknowledge that they know their VoIP service may not work with 911. This is in response to an FCC ruling that requires all VoIP service providers to have 911 service working by July 29th or notify every customer that it does not.

The problem? It's darned hard to get some customers to acknowledge stuff like this. The FCC has not told VoIP companies what to do if a customer refuses to acknowledge they have received a notice, and some companies are being advised that they will have to cut off service.

Apparently the FCC has refused to provide any clarification, instead insisting that the companies have to make repeated efforts to notify, and must have documentation (like an acknowledgement email) that a customer knows 911 may not work.