VoIP: Dial 911 for a deadly delay?

A Florida family says inadequacies in Vonage's 911 net phone service played a role in the death of their three-month-old daughter, one of several such claims that have drawn increasing attention to a sensitive regulatory issue.

The family's complaint, made last week on a Florida TV news station, comes just days before US telephone regulators are likely to force Vonage and all other net phone operators to dramatically improve their emergency calling services.

Cheryl Waller of Deltona, Florida, a recent convert to Vonage, told WESH-Channel 2 that in March she dialled 911 to get help when her daughter, Julia, stopped breathing, but instead heard a recorded voice informing her that the sheriff's department's administrative offices were closed. The few seconds it took for Waller to run to a neighbour's to get help may have cost Julia her life, she told the TV station.

Waller's complaint is similar to one Vonage faces in Texas, where a lawsuit filed by state Attorney General Greg Abbott claims that the operator misleads subscribers about the reliability of its 911 service, a claim Vonage denies.

The Federal Communications Commission has laid the framework for stricter net phone 911 rules - scheduled to be unveiled on 19 May, according to several sources.

Concern generated by events like those in Florida highlights potential problems with the circuitous route net phone 911 calls actually take. Rather than putting callers through directly to a dispatcher, the service sometimes redirects them to the dispatch centre's administrative offices. Another drawback is that net phone 911 calls are not accompanied by the caller's address and phone number.

An emergency services dispatcher wrote "we are starting to get a lot of these calls on non-emergency lines", after signing a petition created to urge lawmakers to force Vonage and other net phone operators to fix their 911 problems.

The problem for net phone operators, which enable internet connections to double as home phone lines, is mainly one of access to the nation's 911 infrastructure, which is owned by the four giant local phone companies known as the Bells. The situation appears to be quickly resolving itself, however, because the Bells have begun striking access deals with Vonage in the last few weeks.

In an interview last week before news of the Florida girl's death surfaced, Vonage chief financial officer John Rego said that as a result of the new FCC rules, net phone operators are likely to have until the end of the year to have a fully functioning 911 service.

"That's a little aggressive," Rego said. "It took mobile operators 10 years to get there."

Ben Charny writes for CNET News.com