VOIP 911 Letter

I’ve never fretted over the 911 issue with the VoIP line in my home office. With the house line still running on POTS, I figured I was covered. Honestly, I didn’t think about it that much… until I got an email from my VoIP provider this evening about 911 service…

I'm pretty happy with the VoIP service in my office. But the bill on my conventional house line has gotten out of hand in the last few months. (Teenagers... need I say more?) Consequently, I've been thinking about switching over my house line to VoIP, as well.

But this message from AT&T has me reconsidering my choice of VOIP providers:

Dear AT&T CallVantage® Service Customer,

AT&T cares about your safety and we want to make sure you are fully informed about dialing 911 with your AT&T CallVantage Service - it's different.

It is important to understand that there are some critical differences between your Alternative 911 service with AT&T CallVantage and 911 service with traditional phone service. There are certain circumstances in which you will not be able to use Alternative 911 service, including but not limited to the following:

You will NOT be able to reach 911 IF:

• Your broadband connection is down
  
• Your electrical power is out
  
• You move your Telephone Adapter to a location where 911 service has not been deployed for the traditional wireline network

In addition, unlike traditional E-911 service, when you dial 911, you will need to provide the emergency operator with your name, address and telephone number or the dispatcher may not be able to locate you. If your call is unexpectedly disconnected, the emergency operator may not know your telephone number and thus may not be able to call you back and also may not know where to send police or emergency personnel. Also, your call may reach an administrative line in the 911 center rather than the emergency operator. This line may not be answered outside of normal business hours. You may get a busy signal or experience longer than expected answering wait times. This could cause a delay in handling your call.

The physical location from which you are dialing 911 needs to match the address of record for your service. The 911 operator will use the service address of record as the dispatch address. If you do not provide us with an accurate service address, AT&T reserves the right to disconnect your service. If you move your Telephone Adapter, you must update your service address on record with AT&T CallVantage Service via your Account Management and Settings web page, or by calling 1-866-596-8464. An address update can take three business days to become effective in the system. Additionally, E-911 service may not be available at other locations to which you request to move your Telephone Adapter.

Because of the above circumstances, AT&T always recommends that you have an alternative means of accessing 911 from your home and travel locations, via a traditional phone line or wireless phone.

In compliance with the FCC Order, AT&T is in the process of migrating AT&T CallVantage Service customers onto E-911 service. You will be notified by postcard when your service is migrated to E-911. You can also check the status of your 911 service by accessing your account online and selecting the Account Management and Settings page.

You can find more information about your 911 service at https://www.callvantage.att.com/help/emergencydialing.htm. Please take some time to review this information, and inform all members of your household (children, baby-sitters, etc.). To assist in keeping you informed about 911 differences and as a reminder in an emergency, we've created a 911 warning label that you can attach to the telephone you use with AT&T CallVantage Service. This sticker is being sent to you by mail. You can also click here to download additional labels.

The FCC has issued an order which requires service providers to notify customers about 911 service, and to obtain customer acknowledgement of this information. Please take a moment and click here to acknowledge your review of this notification.

Sincerely,

AT&T CallVantage Service Team

I checked my account immediately.

Sure 'nuff, I still have Alternative 911... silly me, I thought that living in the land of the Death Star would've meant that we'd have E-911 already...