FCC To Require 911 for VoIP

Sun May 1 17:03:23 UTC 2005

> > How about an anycast address implement(ed|able) by every network
> > provider that would return a zipcode?
> >
> > $ telnet 10.255.255.254
> > Connected
> > 33709
> > Disconnected.
> > $
> >
>
>         are you -REALLY- arguing for the return of "finger" ??
>
>--bill

Not finger, but something like this could work. The server would return the 
physical address of the customer of record assigned that IP address. Kind 
of a uni-directional rwhois. The VoIP phone could connect to the anycast 
address and the ISP would lookup the allocation for the connecting IP and 
return a text string with the physical service location. The VoIP provider 
would be handed this location as part of the SIP registration (or other 
proprietary protocol used). In the event of a 911 call, the phone may check 
the location again to make sure the address of record/IP address hasn't 
changed before the registration expires. This would work fine for all 
customers except those who are mobile and served by a wireless base station 
which serves a large geographic region. If the provider was using some type 
of authentication before handing out IP addresses (I think most probably 
are) they could at least hand out the serving wireless AP location - some 
of the newer adjustable directional APs could even be modified to give an 
approximate relative location. I doubt that VoIP will be exempt from 911 
regulations forever as much as I would like to see that. In lieu of the 
regulatory state going away, it makes sense to come up with a workable 
technology solution which is easy for IP providers and VoIP carriers to 
implement. VoIP providers could recommend IP transit players who support 
IP911 location services. Once it becomes a competitive advantage, the smart 
players will quickly adapt their systems to support IP911. I think we could 
do this within a couple of days with a few hours of coding. It isn't 
terribly difficult to setup. Those providers who don't use a centralized 
database for provisioning and IP allocation would definitely have a harder 
time, but it could still be done with some effort. The extra message 
elements of the SIP registration message could be used immediately once a 
standard is decided upon much as the TXT DNS records have been used for SPF 
records to fight email forgery.

-Robert

Tellurian Networks - The Ultimate Internet Connection
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