911 is here.

Posts: 34 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Feb 06, 2005 Posts: 34

Doesn't really make a difference to me but it seems important to most. Please discuss.

Posts: 508 · Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2005 10:29 am Post subject:

I set it up this morning, got an e-mail sayign it will take a few days before it is activated, and that I will recieve another e-mail saying it's activated at that time..

it's nice to have it, but it would still be nice if our numbers were registered with our addresses and that our CID info would let them know who we are, w/o having to say.. but this is better than nothing, thats for sure..

Posts: 26 · Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2005 2:27 pm Post subject:

Well, my street doesn't have a "suffix" so I can't activate.

Fired them off an email asking how.

Posts: 336 · Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2005 6:36 pm Post subject:

I think they may have to change their website a bit for Canada so far as the Street Suffix goes. Most streets in Canada do have a suffix - if they are English streets. However, if they are French streets, they would have a prefix. For example, English would say:

25 Main St

French would say:

25 rue Principale

rue = St, however French places the word "rue" prior to the street name, whereas English puts that information after the street name. The website could have been modelled off of the American site.

I live in Quebec, and I put "rue" for my suffix (even though it is not really a suffix).

Other Quebec prefixes are chemin (road), terrasse (terrace), boul. (boulevard), place (same thing), ave (same thing), etc. They all go before the street name so they are not suffixes.

I am not sure how important this is during a 911 emergency. I would hope that the authorities would be smart enough to realize the proper address format.

Posts: 508 · Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2005 11:26 am Post subject:

yeha, they dont 'do much of anythign for French speaking Canadian's.. maybe now with them having an office in Canada and having more and more Canadian sub's they'll start to realize they need to include French like the rest of the Country does..

as far as the street name you use for activating 911 and then calling in for help, they still don't see your address when you call, that info you put in on that form is just so Vonage can look up where to forward your 911 calls to, they see such snd such street, in a certain city, so they say, ok, rout 911 calls to 'this department' for this person, but when you call 911 the person that answers has no idea of who you are, they still need you to tell them your address and phone number ..

but like I said before, this is better than nothing..

funny, i tried to dial 911 yesterday, just to test it, and I got a msg saying, "International Long Distance in not enabled on your line" Confused

Posts: 336 · Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2005 11:36 am Post subject:

The Vonage Canada site asks not to call 911 until my information has been validated. It still shows as being not validated, so I tried it now and I got this message:

STOP! YOU MUST DIAL 911 FROM ANOTHER TELEPHONE. 911 IS NOT AVAILABLE FROM THIS TELEPHONE. NO EMERGENCY PERSONNEL WILL BE DISPATCHED. PLEASE HANG UP NOW AND DIAL THE POLICE OR AUTHORITY IN YOUR LOCAL PHONE BOOK OR ASK A NEIGHBOR TO CALL 911 ON YOUR BEHALF.

Hmm, I hope that my neighbor is not using Vonage too. Smile

In any case, I am very happy that it is finally in Canada. It gives me some piece of mind. From what I read, your address does show up at the dispatch centre. This only makes sense. What if you were choking to death on a piece of meat and could not talk?

Posts: 508 · Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2005 11:44 am Post subject:

i read this:

Quote:

Also, when you dial 911, you will need to state the nature of your emergency promptly and clearly, including your location and telephone number, as emergency services personnel will NOT have this information on hand.

Posts: 336 · Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2005 11:47 am Post subject:

If that is the case, I hope you are not choking on a piece of meat when you call 911. Smile

Something is missing here though. Why are we bothering to type in our physical address if they are not going to see it or get it? I know it is to setup where our emergency personnel are, but you could just give a city name for that. Why do they want the street name, etc. I think someone must get that info when you call 911.

Posts: 34 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Feb 06, 2005 Posts: 34

DarKev wrote:

If that is the case, I hope you are not choking on a piece of meat when you call 911. Smile

Something is missing here though. Why are we bothering to type in our physical address if they are not going to see it or get it? I know it is to setup where our emergency personnel are, but you could just give a city name for that. Why do they want the street name, etc. I think someone must get that info when you call 911.

Because I live in Toronto. It's a fairly large city. I'd rather the call go to the closest police/ambulance/fire exchange than one 20 km away.

Posts: 508 · Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2005 4:57 pm Post subject:

yeayh, thats what I figure too, there are alot of large cities, with multiple police stations, fire dept's, etc.. they want to make sure they get you the one thats 5 mins away, not the one thats 25 mins away.. and maybe, it'll pave the way towards better 911 services in the future, this way they'll already have the info..

I am still keeping the police dept's number as speeddial 1 tho..