How soon for e911 + Very Helpful first call to support.

Posts: 6 · New Forum Member Joined: Feb 11, 2005 Posts: 6

First post so go easy please Very Happy

Signed up for Vonage yesterday and was looking forward to ditching comcast phone. I then explained the 911 process to my wife and she said it was unacceptable (i was on the fence about it) so i called to cancel with the intention of signing up again when e911 was live. The rep in the phone was very helpful. He said that e911 would be up in the next couple of weeks and gave me a month of service free. He also extended my trail to a month total so that i can still cancel for a full refund if i decide not to stick with it. No wait time though i did call the cancellation 800 number and not the main support line. So kudos to support so far.

On the e911 issue. Is Vonage really that close or did this guy just want me to get hooked and figure i would stick with it? I am in the boston area in a large suburb if that matters. I see that it is already online in RI but from doing some research it seems that each roll out is dependant on government/local phone company controlled equipment. This makes me think that getting it up and running is probably tough to do with all the red tape that both of those entities contain. Thoughts?

Posts: 482 · Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2005 12:49 am Post subject:

I spent an hour trying to figure that out today. We've got two toddlers in our family, and the wife freaked out when I explained how Vonage's 911 works. So I dialed 911 to test the system, and I got routed to a local number that they advertise on the radio here as "for non-life-threatening, urgent, non-emergent issues" so that wasn't reassuring. And after much research, it looks like VoIP/e911 services are a long way from any sort of nationwide rollout.

And I called customer service, where I was told (1) Vonage doesn't ever plan to offer e911 services, (2) well you're right, I talked to my supervisor and we only have it in Rhode Island, (3) we should have it soon and (4) I don't have any information to give you. So try and make sense out that, if you can.

It is likely that I will have to keep BellSouth just due to this one issue.

Posts: 70 · Full Forum Member Joined: Jan 11, 2005 Posts: 70

Agreed, my wife said no after we got the local police and they didn't have any info on us when we dialed 911. With an 18 month old and another on the way she didn't like the idea of no e911.

Posts: 222 · Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2005 7:12 pm Post subject:

ToddlerTN wrote:

It is likely that I will have to keep BellSouth just due to this one issue.

You could consider keeping the cheapest BellSouth plan to use as an emergency phone and have a Vonage system for most of your calling. That combo might still be cheaper than a full service BellSouth-only solution. And it would give you a backup -- so your wife could feel even safer!

Fletcher

Posts: 78

Fletcher wrote:

ToddlerTN wrote:

It is likely that I will have to keep BellSouth just due to this one issue.

You could consider keeping the cheapest BellSouth plan to use as an emergency phone and have a Vonage system for most of your calling. That combo might still be cheaper than a full service BellSouth-only solution. And it would give you a backup -- so your wife could feel even safer!

Fletcher

OP is from Boston - Verizon land. Cheapest Verizon phone is something like $12 plus fees. When all is said and done, it's $30 or more a month for a phone on message units.

If you're going to do that, just get a cell phone on a carrier that has GPS capabilities. Just make sure you keep it charged.

Posts: 6 · New Forum Member Joined: Feb 11, 2005 Posts: 6

Thanks all for your replies. Just spoke with comcast phone and their basic rate is 16.00 + 6.44 in tax/fees. And in doing that i lose 5.00 of package discount for having my phone/cable/internet. So basically i would be paying 21.44 for a 911 line and 15 for Vonage which puts me at what i have now, plus i would have to deal with figuring out which phone to use to make outgoing calls. UG!

Looks like verizon's charge is 12.70 + fees so that only saves me a couple of bucks. I just hope Vonage gets e911 working and then i will have a clear win situation. Otherwise i am going to hold off on Voip until that is up and running.

What ever happened to just a free dial tone with only outgoing emergency calls possible from your local phone provider?

Posts: 435 · Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 9:41 am Post subject:

In my city, people abuse E911 by calling for non-emergency matters.

I am glad by 911 calls route to the non-emergency number. The call is answered quicker.

Of course, your experience may vary.

Just another view of a serious matter.

Posts: 9 · New Forum Member Joined: May 23, 2003 Posts: 9

In my area, if you have a phone plugged into the telephone company's network and there's no service plan on the line, you can still get a dial tone.

You can dial the phone company to setup new service and you can dial 911.

This would prohibit you from plugging your Vonage line into your house wiring on the main line.

You should check with your local telco to see if this happens where you live.

As well, any cell phone without a service plan is supposed to be able to dial 911.

As always ... your mileage may vary.

Posts: 6 · New Forum Member Joined: Feb 11, 2005 Posts: 6

Well i received my install kit today and setup was a breeze. Set up looks like this: cablemodem --> rt31p2 --> freebsd firewall --> wireless router --> windows systems. Everything worked as planned and got a dial tone within 10 minutes.

Did a test call to 911 and got the "State Police Emergency Line". They picked up within 2 rings. I told them it wasn't an emergency and that i was testing Voip. I asked if it was a 911 line (and it was) and then i asked if they were receiving my address info. They were NOT. Which is what i expected. I then called Vonage customer support. Hold time was 15 minutes (8:30 pm EST). Rep was very laid back (a little too laid back). I asked when e911 would be available (to see if i got a different answer this time). He said they were beta'ing it in RI and once the kinks were worked out they would roll it out nationwide. So i asked if he thought it would be a couple of months and he said probably.

So i guess that settles it. I will probably return the linksys and cancel and resign up when e911 is working. I don't want to deal with 2 forms of service just to save $20 a month. It will be worth it when e911 is working.

On a side note, packet8 says on their site that they offer 911 with address info shown but their price is $5 higher (for the cheapest) and they charge for 911. Has anyone tested their 911 service out?

Posts: 3198 · Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2005 9:07 pm Post subject:

yeah but their cheapest is also unlimited.
this is a good thread on e911 and different providers, though I didn't see anyone actually test it (and I personally don't think anyone should, but that's a different story and to each his own)
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,12464396