Can't Call Pizza Hut w/ Vonage Canada

Posts: 23 · Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 7:49 pm Post subject:

yes, you can dial 310 numbered from a disconnected bell canada line, you can also dial 911 from a disco'ed bell line too I believe...

Posts: 188 · Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 8:56 pm Post subject:

Yeah, I've heard that you can still dial through to Bell from a "disconnected" line. I don't know if the same thing is true with Telus but they use the same phone number oddly enough (310-2255).

I have heard that in the US, the FCC requires telcos to maintain a "soft dial tone" on "disconnected" POTS lines that allow 911 dialing and access to the telco's customer service line. There is no such requirement in Canada however, except for wireless carriers which must allow 911 access, even if the phone is not "activated". I checked this with the CRTC. I wouldn't want to test or rely on 911 from a "disconnected" POTS though.

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: May 08, 2005 Posts: 3

This raises an interesting question: if you are only allowed to call 911 in case of an emergency, how can you test it? Vonage's 911 service differs from traditional landline 911 service, since Vonage numbers are not bound to a physical location. My understanding is that in Canada 911 is not available at all through Vonage, correct? So, how do you know that your 911 service works properly and routes to the correct call centre, if you are not allowed to test it? Is there some sort of "test" 911 number you can call that will get you a recording, or something?

Posts: 336 · Posted: Tue May 10, 2005 6:10 am Post subject:

freerick wrote:

My understanding is that in Canada 911 is not available at all through Vonage, correct?

That's incorrect. 911 dialing is now available, but it is not the same 911 dispatch office you get with a Bell line. It is usually the local 7-digit number of the area in which you live to the police station.

So far as 310 numbers goes, you cannot dial them with an area code in front. These numbers are actually shortcuts to the real phone number of the company. When you dial 310-xxxx, the phone company converts what you dialled to 999-888-7777 where 999 is the area code, 888 is the exchange, and 7777 is the number. This is why Vonage and other companies don't offer the service. This would mean they would have to know where you are located, and program all of the 310 numbers for your local area and their actual conversion. What a mess that would be.

Posts: 188 · Posted: Tue May 10, 2005 9:27 am Post subject:

freerick wrote:

This raises an interesting question: if you are only allowed to call 911 in case of an emergency, how can you test it? Vonage's 911 service differs from traditional landline 911 service, since Vonage numbers are not bound to a physical location. My understanding is that in Canada 911 is not available at all through Vonage, correct? So, how do you know that your 911 service works properly and routes to the correct call centre, if you are not allowed to test it? Is there some sort of "test" 911 number you can call that will get you a recording, or something?

At the risk of putting a fine point on this subject, Vonage offers 911 "dialing" not 911 "service". It is important to note the difference. Vonage's 911 dialing usually routes you to the non emergency phone number for the police department in your city, not the actual 911 centre. This is due to the fact that the incumbant telcos that own the switches for the 911 systems across the country won't allow Vonage to connect to them.

You should test your Vonage 911 dialing so that you'll know where it goes.

Whoops! I didn't mean to hijack this thread but they seem to be many out there that don't understand what Vonage 911 dialing means and I think that it is important that people do.

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: May 08, 2005 Posts: 3

Thanks for clarifying this, I never fully understood why Vonage cannot connect to the "real" 911 call centres. According to a press release, Vonage is close to making arrangements with some major US phone companies to route to the "real" 911 directly.