Does it really matter if Vonage has good 911? Cell phones...

Posts: 5 · Last edited by traslin on Mon Mar 07, 2005 5:48 pm; edited 1 time in total

Lack of decent 911 used to be a huge concern for me when I first started looking at Vonage. Most worrisome was that fact that Vonage stops working when the power goes out.

However, after I thought about it, it seems to me that using a cell phone for 911 is a better option than relying on a land-line for 911. Here are a few reasons why I believe this:

1. Most of our phones are cordless phones anyways. If the power goes out, the cordless phones will not work with either Vonage or regular phone service.

2. If someone is breaking into your house, locking your position down to a phone to call 911 doesn't seem like the best idea. I would recommend locking yourself in a closet with your cell-phone and then dialing for help.

3. If your house is burning down, it is obvious that cell phone 911 would be preferred.

4. It really isn't that difficult to pop open someone's phone box and cut off phone service to their house. Relying on your cell phone for 911 will guarantee your 911 won't ever be cut off by a competent criminal.

Perhaps I'm just rationalizing things because I really like the idea of Vonage, so please let me know if you think my assertions are totally off-base. Also keep in mind that I do not have any children, and my wife is more than competent enough to make sure she keeps a cell-phone on her night-stand, etc.

Posts: 482 · Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 2:25 pm Post subject:

It's definitely less important for some than for others. Just a thought...what about people who don't have cell phones?

Posts: 5 · Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 2:29 pm Post subject:

I am kind of assuming ownership of a cell phone in this post, so if you don't have a cell phone, none of this logic applies.

I think that the good majority of people that would use Vonage would probably have cell phones though. Vonage is kind of a techie thing, and I'd guess that most techies enjoy the use of a cell phone.

Thanks for clearing that up.

Posts: 47 · Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 2:38 pm Post subject:

I would like to see e911 work on Vonage because our cell coverage is marginal from our house and also for visitors that may be at our house while we are not. Like, parents, grandparents, baby-sitters, etc that may not have a cell handy.

The enhanced service is great, the communications center that gets your call knows the name, address and sometimes directions before the call is answered. Cells cannot provide the same level of location detail and also not in real time.

Posts: 68 · Full Forum Member Joined: Jan 30, 2005 Posts: 68

There are a million things that could go wrong with your cell phone plan.

1. People usually have several land phones around the house. If you've got a cell phone on the first floor on the kitchen counter where a robber has just broken in, you're not going to be able to go get it while you're in the second floor bed room.

2. Cell phones actually leave the house. What if your cell phone is in the car? Or out with your spouse/kids?

3. What if the cell phone battery goes out, or there is some other tech issue with the phone?

4. Not all cell phones can be located yet, and those that can are only accurate 50-300 meters. This isn't accurate enough. You could be calling from your neighbors with that kind of accuracy.

Now granted none of this could happen and your cell phone plan could work fine. However, the fact is you call 911 in a *rare unexpected emergency* when any rapid out of the ordinary situation could be going on and having 911 on all phones could be very important.

Posts: 5 · Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 5:57 pm Post subject:

I did mention in my post that I only really worry about my wife, and she can make plugging in her cell-phone to charge a part of her nightly bed ritual. I think this deals with a lot of the problems you mentioned Trek234, but certainly not all of them.

I mentioned some of the pros to using a cell phone, and Trek listed some of the cons. It is difficult to say which is better because you never know what exactly the situation is going to be when there is an emergency. Ideally, it would probably be best to have access to both a cell phone and a land-line for 911.

The reason for my thread really was to hash out a 911 discussion, so I can discuss it intelligently with my wife. Security is a pretty big concern for her, so she might not buy into Vonage unless she feels safe with the change in the 911 service. I am hoping that the option to use 911 on her cell-phone might assuage some of the uncertaintly she has about the security problems Vonage introduces.

Posts: 85 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Feb 15, 2005 Posts: 85

What if the power goes out at your house? It goes both ways.

Posts: 22 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Feb 11, 2005 Posts: 22

your logic makes little sense... all you did was take a few examples which fit into your theory.

what would you do if you were home alone and choking or needing some other medical help? wouldn't it be best to just dial 911 and have them know where you are instantly?

this is definitely a problem that Vonage should address... just as cell phones are slowly addressing it. most phones have gps chips in them and some states police can receive location data from those chips when 911 is dialed.

Posts: 85 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Feb 15, 2005 Posts: 85

You are right! This service doesn't meet your needs. I on the other hand am ecstatic with my service. I have stated this before and it applies here also:

The bottom line is that I would rather pay $24.99 for a service that is 90% reliable. I am fine with 911 routing my call to the local Sheriff's office and I can handle outages here and there. If you expected more from Vonage than this then you didn't do your homework. Wishing Vonage is something that is not or hoping the government will jump in and make this a POTS carbon copy makes you a dreamer and an uninformed consumer.

I CHOSE to come to Vonage for nothing less than to save money. If this service starts to compete with the price of POTS, guess what? I am going backs to POTS that will work when the power is out. I am happy with what I have and I am very happy with how much I am saving. If you are not, then there are other options for you.

Posts: 68 · Full Forum Member Joined: Jan 30, 2005 Posts: 68

DentalRep wrote:

What if the power goes out at your house? It goes both ways.

Not really. I have a $50 UPS power supply. If the power goes out, I still have cable modems and phones.