iTWire - 000 calling from VoIP now mandatory

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000 calling from VoIP now mandatory

by Stuart Corner
Monday, 05 November 2007
! Any VoIP service in Australia that is able to both receive calls made to a public telephone number and to place calls to public telephone numbers is now required to support calling to the 000 emergency service and the 106 service for the hearing or speech impaired. Sleepy teens awake still hooked up to tech toys Women smokers more likely to be depressed Australia finds teens aren’t eating fruits and veggies Go ogle Australia’s Great Barrier Reef on Google Maps! Clever Communications goes after BigAir The new rules, developed by the Australian Communications And Media Authority (ACMA) are implemented in amendments to the Telecommunications (Emergency Call Service) Determination 2002. http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_310364 ACMA chair, Chris Chapman, said: "These amendments provide greater certainty for consumers about access to police, fire and ambulance assistance, as new and innovative services are introduced. 'Many VoIP providers already provide free-of-charge access for emergency calls, and the amended determination makes it very clear that from today all VoIP providers of two-way services are obligated to provide access to Triple Zero and the special emergency number (106) for the Deaf and hearing impaired community.' Those VoIP services must also be flagged in the Integrated Public Number Database so the emergency call service operator will be alerted to ask the caller for location information. The IPND is a national database of all listed and unlisted public telephone numbers and relevant customer details. The amendments follow on from a consultation process with carriers, VoIP providers, emergency service organisations and consumer groups that has been underway since 2006. However, it seems that not all VoIP providers will be immediately compliant. ACMA and the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts recently wrote to more than forty Australian providers of VoIP services urging them to find technical solutions so that all users of VoIP services can have access to the emergency call numbers seeking "firm indications of what solutions are currently available and when other solutions will be implemented." ACMA said that "while technical solutions are being developed, it is expected there will be a commitment from providers to undertake a range of proposed consumer awareness raising measures." However, its own press release announcing the letter to VoIP providers, issue only two weeks ago, http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_310797 made no mention of the fact that it was about to mandate support for 000 calling by VoIP services! One notably non-compliant service appears to be Skype. Its web site stresses that it cannot be used for emergency calling. iTWire has sought comment from Skype's representative in Australia to clarify this situation.{moscomment} Please enable JavaScript in your browser to post your comment! Tags See All Tags Stuart Corner VoIP Get stories like this delivered daily - FREE - subscribe now