Vonage SUED over not clearly informing customers re 911 service lacking

Thu Mar 24 18:38:57 UTC 2005

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-nanog at merit.edu [mailto:owner-nanog at merit.edu] On Behalf Of
J.D. Falk
> Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2005 1:37 AM
> 
> On 03/23/05, "Sam Hayes Merritt, III" <sam at themerritts.org> wrote: 
> 
>> Subject: Re: Vonage sold over not clearly informing customers re 911
service lacking
>>
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/internet/03/23/internet.phones.911.ap/index.htm
l
> 
> 	That's "sued," not "sold."
> 
> 	And it's a silly case, 'cause Vonage goes to great lengths to
> 	remind new subscribers to configure the service with the real,
> 	physical location of their phone.  Or at least, they bugged me a
> 	lot when I signed up late last year.

Or it's not so silly. The 911 service Vonage prodded you to configure is not
quite the same as calling 911 from a landline (see below). So even though
you told Vonage where you are and they send your call to the right building
you still need to be transferred to the 9-11 call center and you still need
to tell them where you are.

>From http://www.vonage.com/features.php?feature=911

Your Call Will Go To A General Access Line at the Public Safety Answering
Point (PSAP). This is different from the 911 Emergency Response Center where
traditional 911 calls go.

    * This means your call goes to a different phone number than traditional
911 calls. Also, you will need to state the nature of your emergency
promptly and clearly, including your location and telephone number, as
Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) personnel will NOT have this
information on hand.

-----
Oren Levin, Senior Developer
olevin at audible.com, 973.837.2811
"Audible.com ranks among the Web's best services."
CNet.com, July 2004