Flu Pandemic and Vonage

Posts: 159 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Aug 05, 2005 Posts: 159

Ok, so on the chance we have a flu pandemic, will it be better to have a landline or Vonage?

Posts: 2257 · Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 9:41 am Post subject:

???

Does one transmit the flu more readily than the other? If so, which one?

I would assume POTS, since there is a dedicated piece of copper to my house that could have flu virii crawling on it RIGHT NOW! Fortunately, in my case, my cables are cut, so the virii will fall on the ground and break their little legs, and the crutches will slow them down enough that I can run away.

Or is it Vonage, because the virii have managed to mutate to ride on UDP/IP packets and straight into my EAR? What sort of header information do I look for? Can I update my firewall and Antivirus to block them?

Why am I the last to hear about these things?!?!?!?! Eek

Posts: 159 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Aug 05, 2005 Posts: 159

Natehoy Wrote:

Quote:

???

Does one transmit the flu more readily than the other? If so, which one?

As long as your antivirus is up-to-date I don't think it should make a difference.

Posts: 1715 · Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 10:01 am Post subject:

Just as long as you're not using a Microsoft phone, which would have Outlook's patented Virus Transfer Protocol, you'll be fine.

Posts: 15 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Mar 10, 2006 Posts: 15

kpdillon wrote:

Natehoy Wrote:

Quote:

???

Does one transmit the flu more readily than the other? If so, which one?

As long as your antivirus is up-to-date I don't think it should make a difference.

This is for real..
I was at the grocery store yesterday and while I was in the checkout I read something in a magazine headline that said "COMPUTER VIRUS SPREADS TO HUMANS!"

Posts: 2257 · Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 10:12 am Post subject:

Was that the Weekly World News? I still have my suit of armor on from their "Space Whelk Poised to Devour Earth!" headline (it had a picture! it must be true!), and that was ten years ago. My armor is getting pretty rank, lemme tellya. Wish that consarned whelk would decide whether the Earth looks tasty or not and make up his mind.

I'm also still trying to find that woman whose vericose veins can be used as a treasure map.

Posts: 1424 · Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 10:39 am Post subject: Re: Flu Pandemic and Vonage

kpdillon wrote:

Ok, so on the chance we have a flu pandemic, will it be better to have a landline or Vonage?

Although situations might vary I would suspect that having a POTS line would be better in a flu pandemic situation at the current time.

The biggest problem, besides actually dying, in a flu pandemic is going to be the shortage of people who are capable of working. This means that the more complex a system is the more likely that it will have a failure with nobody around to resolve it.

Since making a local call with Voip requires an ISP, a Voip provider, a CLEC and the local phone company it is inherently more complex.

Having said this it is important to realize that in some cases Voip would be better. For example, if an accident involving a telephone pole took out POTS service in your neighborhood but cable modem service was underground, Voip might be more reliable.

This is an important question in that it goes to how E911 is being implemented for Voip. Ideally when the FCC required Voip providers to provide E911 services they should have held out until the FCC required PSAPs to support Voip. In this case your calls to the PSAP would not have depended on both the Voip provider and the local phone company. In addition since the Internet is self healing and in most cases you can get IP connectivity from multiple sources, Voip could be inherently more reliable than POTS.

What is it going to take for this to happen?

Requirements for PSAPs to support SIP and have multiple separate IP connections.
Requirements for Voip devices to have the ability to make emergency calls without the use of a Voip service provider.
National (or International) infrastructure for emergency SIP dialing.

Posts: 1715 · Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 11:23 am Post subject:

Florida has linked most (if not all?) emergency dispatch centers with Voip interconnections, but I don't know more about the system they're running than it's Voip, running on a TCP/IP network. Not sure if it's a public or private network or has any access to the outside world.

Posts: 2257 · Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 11:46 am Post subject:

I'm still struggling to see the link between the flu and 911. And especially between the flu and your choice of phone services.

Yes, the flu can be serious to people with compromised immune systems, the elderly, and the very young. In rare cases, it can even be serious for someone who is otherwise healthy or appears so. But it's not like it's a sudden killer.

Anyone with flu-like symptoms (which in the beginning are much like cold symptoms) who is in an "at risk" category or feels they might be should make an appointment with their doctor, and possibly be admitted into the hospital under observation, where lots of fluids can be pumped into them and emergency medical care is readily available.

Anyone with flulike symptoms who knows someone in the "at risk" category should stay away from them, and everyone else for that matter (as much as practical), wash their hands frequently with soap and water (no need for the antibacterial crap, as the flu is a virus), and practice basic, commonsense self-quarantine procedures to keep from spreading it to anyone else. They should also drink lots and lots of fluids, preferably water. Dehydration is their biggest enemy, water is their best friend.

It's not like someone touches you and you shout "My God! I've got the flu! Call 911! Call 9..." and fall over unconscious with 5 minutes to live. (grin)

Posts: 1424 · Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 12:48 pm Post subject:

Quote:

I'm still struggling to see the link between the flu and 911. And especially between the flu and your choice of phone services.

Not a direct link, but what if your house catches on fire during a flu pandemic?

The question really becomes, "Which class of service is more reliable during any disaster?" and then specifically, "Which class of service is more reliable in the event of a disaster that doesn't directly effect infrastructure?" Other examples could be a failure of the power grid or a massive telecom strike.

When the flu pandemic is discussed you have to look at it not in terms of the effects of the flu on individuals, but on the effect of having so many people unable to work at the same time. Then you have to look at how that is going to effect providing basic services; food, water, heat, emergency assistance, medical care. Phone service, specifically 911, is part of our emergency assistance infrastructure.

From a disaster planning perspective, a flu pandemic is not about people getting sick, it is about a lack of resources to keep society functioning.