Chiyo
Save Me Konata-Chan
Premium
join:2003-02-20
Minneapolis, MN
clubs:
 ·Comcast
| I've called 911 before
and I've had not a single issue, I think if these people even bother to login to there online accont page they get a ton of notices saying SETUP YOUR 911 service. I don't blame vonage I blame the mother who is looking for an excuse.
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"Sure there have been injuries and deaths in boxing - but none of them serious."- Alan Minter, Boxer"I get to go to lots of overseas places, like Canada."- Britney Spears, Pop Singer |
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FLECOM
Bay Networks Freak
Premium
join:2003-03-03
Miami, FL | hrmm... chilly finger?
Did she find a finger in her chilli too?  |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
·Comcast
| Sterilize and Jail the Parents...
... for not taking responsibility for ensuring real 911 access by using a POTS line. Vonage and other VoIP providers make it very clear that their 911 service is not the same as POTS-provided 911 service. The baby's death is partly the fault of the parents who didn't bother to fully research the potential problems with VoIP-based 911 service. You would think when you see a big red label on a web page explaining that 911 with VoIP has to be set up manually and that it isn't the same as POTS-based 911 service, one would think... hmmm.... is this the best thing for me?
Its idiots like these who will sue the US tech industry out of the country.
I know that once I have kids, the first thing I will do is get the cheapest POTS-based line (even as much as I hate the telegraph companies) just for proper 911 access should it be needed.
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Hey Fast Eddie... you're next! |
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Tomek
Premium
join:2002-01-30
Brooklyn, NY
 ·Packet8
| Money
It's all about money. Her baby died and now she hopes to get extra cash from that accident. 911 operators should have call logs or something to verify. And then everybody has some kind of alternate ways of communication, cell phones, POTS, neighbors.
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Semper Fidelis |
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Bitey
Premium
join:2002-06-14 | Don't infants read disclamers anymore?
What a world! |
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Murray3
join:2001-03-06
Texas
| reply to pnh102
Re: Sterilize and Jail the Parents...
said by pnh102  :I know that once I have kids, the first thing I will do is get the cheapest POTS-based line (even as much as I hate the telegraph companies) just for proper 911 access should it be needed. Exactly what I have done. |
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BosstonesOwn
join:2002-12-15
Everett, MA
clubs:
·Comcast
| reply to pnh102
I agree , people pass the responsibility to others in this country way to much. I foresee a lawsuit in which she will probably be paid very well, and vonage may be put into a hole for.
People wonder why so many companies are off shoring and doing all they can to cut costs. Lawsuits and stock holders are a major reason why it has to be done, they all want good returns and even better service.
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"It's always funny until someone gets hurt......and then it's absolutely friggin' hysterical!" |
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Jim Gurd
Premium
join:2000-07-08
Plymouth, MI
·Comcast
| reply to pnh102
I would never be without a POTS line until VoIP can provide me with the same level of service for 911.
Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't it true that VoIP 911 calls go to a different call center and are not E-911 capable (i.e. they don't show your phone number and address automatically if you can't talk)?
Right now I don't trust VoIP. I can get (reasonably) cheap POTS service from Talk America. |
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BosstonesOwn
join:2002-12-15
Everett, MA
clubs:
·Comcast
| reply to Bitey
Re: Don't infants read disclamers anymore?
said by Bitey :What a world! It's the parent/guardians responsibility not any one else. Vonage has made it clear on every portion of their page about the info.
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"It's always funny until someone gets hurt......and then it's absolutely friggin' hysterical!" |
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ColdFiltered
join:2005-01-25
Atlanta, GA
| reply to FLECOM
Re: hrmm... chilly finger?
Its easier to blame someone else than yourself. Who is to say the child would have lived even if a POTS/911 call had been placed, too? Also, it was the parents fault for buying into VoIP as I do not remember seeing Vonage Squads going door-to-door threatening people's lives if they stayed with POTS.
I bet she killed the child! |
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ColdFiltered
join:2005-01-25
Atlanta, GA
| reply to pnh102
Re: Sterilize and Jail the Parents...
Does anyone remember the court decision a few months back against a drug-addict women? The court ordered her to not have anymore children as the many she already had were in foster-care because she, obviously, couldn't take care of them.
I'd have gutted her as my 'court' decision. We have to have a license to drive and fish, but not one to breed. |
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BosstonesOwn
join:2002-12-15
Everett, MA
clubs:
·Comcast
| reply to Jim Gurd
said by Jim Gurd :I would never be without a POTS line until VoIP can provide me with the same level of service for 911. Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't it true that VoIP 911 calls go to a different call center and are not E-911 capable (i.e. they don't show your phone number and address automatically if you can't talk)? Right now I don't trust VoIP. I can get (reasonably) cheap POTS service from Talk America. No and Yes. Different call centers yes , e-911 incompatible no (at least in most cases)
VoIP providers maintain a database of your info which when the server that holds your number to ip translation is checked also checks if it is a 911 call if so all your billing info is sent to the call center which fills in their screen like caller id. Which is then transferred to the local emergency service to you.
E-911 does the same with cell phones, except now with cell phones they triangulate off many towers around you to get the spot where you are. The more antenna's respond the closer they can come to finding you.
VoIP however does not have that ability. What is done is a trace to the router/gateway ahead of you and ping plotted to make sure it's not a bad call and as that is being done your VoIP provider sends them your billing info which is assumed to be your street info.
Vonage however has the system in place but you must double check to make sure it's right and to set it up properly since Vonage doesn't know your specifics. This is why there is 80 pages on Vonage web site with the big red label.
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"It's always funny until someone gets hurt......and then it's absolutely friggin' hysterical!" |
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scott2ya
Iphone junkie
Premium
join:2002-03-07
Missouri
| Some things just got to be regulated
Traditional phone service is regulated to death. But the thing I like about it the most is that your POTS is always battery backed up.
Being in the phone industry, I know that the power can go out, and your phone will continue to work for 6-8 hrs and longer in most cases, because not only is the C.O. battery backed up, but there are generators there too. If on an RT (remote terminal), then there are only the batteries, but when they get low, techs are dispatched with generators in most cases. So in a perfect world you phone service should never go down due to power issues, UNLESS all your phones require power. You should always have at least one plain old telephone, not the cordless ones.
I would never switch soley to internet phone for the same reasons this baby died. Even a cell phone is more reliable than voip telephony. |
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Alphabyte
join:2001-02-20
Edwardsville, IL
clubs: | reply to Murray3
Re: Sterilize and Jail the Parents...
You don't even need a land line for proper 911. An cell phone that turns on is required to let calls go throught to 911 regardless if it's activated or not.
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Proud President of Riverbend Enterprises, LLC. |
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BosstonesOwn
join:2002-12-15
Everett, MA
clubs:
·Comcast
| reply to ColdFiltered
said by ColdFiltered :Does anyone remember the court decision a few months back against a drug-addict women? The court ordered her to not have anymore children as the many she already had were in foster-care because she, obviously, couldn't take care of them. I'd have gutted her as my 'court' decision. We have to have a license to drive and fish, but not one to breed. Don't forget to hunt, even to buy a gun which is in the constitution as a right.
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"It's always funny until someone gets hurt......and then it's absolutely friggin' hysterical!" |
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BosstonesOwn
join:2002-12-15
Everett, MA
clubs:
·Comcast
| reply to scott2ya
Re: Some things just got to be regulated
Cell phone e-911 is very reliable. Some carriers are not phase 2 compliant at the moment but most are and the accuracy on some of them can locate you to within 15 meters 67 % of the time and 100 meters 97% of the time, at least in our markets it does.
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"It's always funny until someone gets hurt......and then it's absolutely friggin' hysterical!" |
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IronChefMoto
Premium
join:2001-02-08
Alpharetta, GA
|  Can she risk admitting she's incompetent?
This lady, if she goes to trial with a lawsuit, will basically have to admit that she's incompetent -- unable to read the friggin' warnings that are all over the Vonage website for 911 service differentiations? That, in my mind, opens up the door to questions about her ability to be a good parent.
Lady -- if you can't read warnings on a website, perhaps you can't read a box of rat poison that you're pouring into a cereal bowl for your children? Maybe you can't read the signs that say NO TURN ON RED and you pull out into really fast traffic onto a major thoroughfare?
Hmmm? Dipshit? If your husband set Vonage up for you (did she even have one -- didn't read the full article), did he forget to tell you, "Uh -- honey -- use your cell phone to call 911 for the baby, OK?" If so -- then why aren't you suing him? Divorcing him for buying the service?
I'm upset that a life was lost (the photo is cute -- perfect for local news ratings when the latest hot spilt McDonald's coffee investigation goes bad), but seriously -- you're a parent. "Parent" (verb) for Christ's sake. Government, including the courts, is for things NOT related to your own personal responsibility.
IronChefMorimoto
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Shuttle SK83G | AMD Athlon64 3400+ / Abit NF7-S 2.0 | AMD AthlonXP 2500+
Shuttle SK41G | Athlon XP 1800+ / Dell Latitude C810 | Intel PIII-M |
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WhyADuck
Premium
join:2003-03-05
| reply to scott2ya
Re: Some things just got to be regulated
said by scott2ya :Traditional phone service is regulated to death. But the thing I like about it the most is that your POTS is always battery backed up. True in theory, but do you realize how many people have a cordless phone (which won't work when the power is out) as their only phone these days? When that major blackout hit parts of the Eastern U.S. and Canada a couple of summers ago, there were many people who lost phone service solely because they didn't have a corded phone in the house.
My point being, if you are going to criticize VoIP because it doesn't come with a battery backup, where was all that criticism when cordless phones were first introduced? I know you're aware of this issue because of what you wrote in the next paragraph, but still I think it's not right to level this criticism solely at VoIP. Remember, all a person needs to do is plug their cable or DSL modem, router, and VoIP adapter (and cordless phone, if they have one) into a good Uninterruptable Power Supply, and they should have at least a few hours' backup.
said by scott2ya :Being in the phone industry, I know that the power can go out, and your phone will continue to work for 6-8 hrs and longer in most cases, because not only is the C.O. battery backed up, but there are generators there too. If on an RT (remote terminal), then there are only the batteries, but when they get low, techs are dispatched with generators in most cases. So in a perfect world you phone service should never go down due to power issues, UNLESS all your phones require power. You should always have at least one plain old telephone, not the cordless ones. Funny you should mention remote terminals. A few years back we had a major power surge and outage, and it took the power company about 16 hours to get everyone back online. The remote terminal serving the area stayed up the whole time. But the next afternoon, the entire neighborhood lost phone service and it stayed out the rest of the day and evening. I found out later that the power surge had damaged the charging circuits, so the RT was still running off the backup battery even after power was restored, and the batteries finally gave up the ghost the next afternoon. The problem was, the phone company had plenty of generators on hand, but what they didn't have was a replacement for whatever components had burned out - they wound up taking the components from another RT (in effect borrowing from Peter to pay Paul, as the old saying goes), leaving that one to run on batteries in the hope that they could get a replacement before the batteries there ran out. |
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boyden
Premium
join:2003-07-29
Lewisville, TX
| c'mon
Murray, as a fellow brit I would have thought you could have used your own brain and not been a sheep.
I test my Vonage 911 once a month. I phone up the local PD and ask them if it's OK. The first time I did it the Officer at the other end commended me and said she also has vonage and said feel free to test whenever, just phone first to check it's OK.
You also have cell phone etc.
As long as you understand the limitations - which are more than adequately displayed - then you are fine. |
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dispatcher21
join:2004-01-22
united state
| reply to BosstonesOwn
Re: Sterilize and Jail the Parents...
Only a different call center if 911 and non emergecny are handled by different centers. I work for a dispatch center that handles all calls, emergency and non emergency. So in this case, we would get it no matter what. Granted, if the non emergency line and 911 rings at the same time, the 911 gets priority, but the dispatcher should still answer the non emergency line to make sure they indeed dont have an emergency after the 911 call is done with or at least stablized. And I wouldnt trust a cell phone for 911. Depending on where you are, and other factors, you could reach a PSAP that is not even close to where you are. Not only that but depending on the cell providers network conditions or tower problems, sometimes we cant understand you because of the call dropping or severe static, and if you cant tell us where you are, we cant help you. Now yes phase 2 wireless with lat/long is out there but very few PSAP's have been upgraded to use this. Not only do we need a phase 2 compliant phone system, but also a phase 2 CAD system and a mapping program, all of this is big bucks. We use Positron Power 911 for 5 consoles and that was over $150,000.00. The CAD cost over $250,000.00 (for initial cost, I believe upgrade to phase 2 was a lot cheaper) and mapping was over $35,000.00. As you can see, not many agencies will have the money to upgrade. Add to this the fact that cell companies are not even close to having even 80% success rate with phase 2 info and cell phones start to look as bad as VoIP. The safest bet is a landline period. |
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