VOIP E9-1-1 CALL TO ACTION

[Guest guest]

Whether you are an APCO member or not this affects your job.

Doug Leavenworth County, Ks.

VOIP E9-1-1 " CALL TO ACTION "

ISSUE:

VoIP Regulatory Freedom Act of 2004

* <http://www.apcointl.org/about/gov/alerts/s2281.pdf> Senate: S2281

(pdf)

* <http://www.apcointl.org/about/gov/alerts/hr4129.pdf> House: HR

4149 (pdf)

PURPOSE: To provide a clear and unambiguous structure for the

jurisdictional and regulatory treatment for the offering or provision of

voice-over-Internet-protocol applications, and for other purposes.

BACKGROUND: Congressman Pickering (R-Miss) and Senator

Sununu (R-NH) introduced the " VoIP Regulatory Freedom Act of 2004 " (S 2281

and HR 4149) in their respective chambers. Congress is working quickly to

preempt state and local regulation of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

In its rush to limit regulation, Congress has also proposed the

establishment of " voluntary " standards for VoIP E9-1-1 services. If the bill

passes, VoIP providers will have the option of either complying with the

standards or notifying their customers that they will not have traditional

9-1-1 services. In other words, public safety will need to answer calls from

VoIP customers regardless if the VoIP provider complies with the voluntary

E9-1-1 standards. APCO has taken a strong position against this and has

advocated to Congress to authorize the FCC to regulate VoIP E9-1-1.

STATUS: July 7, 2004 - House Energy and Commerce Committee

Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet held a hearing on " Voice

Over Internet Protocol Services: Will the Technology Disrupt the Industry or

Will Regulation Disrupt the Technology? " This hearing focused on the

possibility of the Federal government's preemption of State and local

regulation of VoIP services. One of the key elements in the discussion was

the public service requirements of VoIP services such as 9-1-1 and whether

these services should be regulated by the Federal Communications Commission

(FCC). It was clear at the hearing that Congress is not aware of all the

issues related to 9-1-1 and they might be getting rushed in passing

legislation that could have a dramatic impact on how public safety answering

points (PSAPs) will respond to VoIP E9-1-1 calls. It was also clear the

information that they have been receiving by VoIP providers related to VoIP

E9-1-1 is greatly misleading. <?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O />

ACTION:

APCO International needs your help in making sure Congress does not overlook

the interests of public safety on the issue of VoIP and E9-1-1. As you may

be aware, this is one of the hottest public safety issues on Capitol Hill.

There is currently a misperception by Congress that public safety supports

development of " voluntary " standards for VoIP E9-1-1 calls. This

misperception is being fueled by continued emphasis that the VON/NENA

agreement is an agreement between public safety and VoIP providers. APCO

International does not support this agreement and, in fact, is in opposition

of the agreement.

APCO International urges you to contact your elected officials to let them

know that public safety does not support " voluntary " standards for VoIP

E9-1-1. Public safety has worked hard to make sure the FCC is the

regulatory body of E9-1-1. It is imperative that the FCC's hands are not

tied by any legislative initiatives that try to restrict regulation of VoIP.

It is APCO International's position that any legislation to protect VoIP

from regulation needs to be separated from E9-1-1.

APCO International is putting this call to action to its National

Legislative Network (NLN) members, Executive Council, Chapter Officers and

general membership to make sure the voice of public safety is heard loud and

clear when it comes to regulating VoIP and E9-1-1. Members of APCO

International are encouraged to write, call, and visit the offices of their

elected officials and urge them to authorize the FCC to regulate VoIP

E9-1-1.

Specifically, APCO International would like it to ask its members to take

two actions related to VoIP E9-1-1.

1. Send a letter to your Representative and Senators in your state

asking them to authorize the Federal Communications Commission to regulate

VoIP E9-1-1 services.

<http://www.apcointl.org/about/gov/alerts/voipletter.txt> Sample Letter

It would be best if the letter was written in your own words. The letters

can either be from your agency or from you as concerned citizen or both. It

is very important that you try to incorporate a specific example in your

letter as to why this legislation is important to your State and local

communities. Many times your representatives will use your examples to

argue your issues before Congress.

Key points about APCO International's position on this matter you might want

to include in your letter are:

*

VoIP E9-1-1 should be separated from other VoIP regulatory issues.

* Congress needs to authorize the FCC to regulate VoIP E9-1-1

services.

* Congress must not succumb to the temptation to defer entirely to

voluntary standards and guidelines to address the E9-1-1 problems.

Facts about VoIP and E9-1-1 you might want to include in your letter are:

*

The public has come to expect that their telephone will provide immediate

access to emergency services by dialing 9-1-1, that their call will be

answered by local personnel who can dispatch first responders to the scene,

and that their location and phone number will be provided automatically. The

public does not expect any different level of service just because the

" telephone " over which the call is made is IP-enabled. From the perspective

of the 9-1-1 caller, all telephones are functionally equivalent and the

expectation is that the level of 9-1-1 service will be the same.

*

VoIP providers' increasing common diversion of " <?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = ST1

/> 9-1-1 " calls to 10-digit numbers as an " interim solution " poses dangers

to the public. In many cases the 10-digit numbers identified by the VoIP

provider are incorrect.

*

Routing of calls to 10-digit numbers is forcing some PSAPs to consider

diverting scarce resources to handle the potential new volume of 9-1-1 calls

from VoIP providers.

*

Absent VoIP E9-1-1 capability, emergency responses will be delayed and PSAP

personnel will be strained by the need to divert scarce resources.

*

VoIP can not be allowed to proliferate and substitute for wireline telephone

service unless it provides full E9-1-1 service.

*

VoIP providers connected to the public switch telephone network should be

required to meet current E9-1-1 requirements for call back number and

location information.

Please be sure to ask others in your agency or community to write to their

elected officials. Your voice does not need to be the only one.

<http://www.apcointl.org/about/gov/composingletters.htm> Click here for

tips on writing a letter to Congress

If you can, please fax and if possible email your letters to your

representatives offices. Also, it would be best to send a copy of the

letter to the local office of your elected official.

For supporting material you can use

*

any local press clippings,

*

<http://www.apcointl.org/about/gov/alerts/NR-VoIP6-15-2004.pdf> APCO's

Press Release June 15, 2004

* <http://www.apcointl.org/about/gov/alerts/VoIP_Press_Release.pdf>

APCO Press Release - April 13-2004 (PDF)

* <http://www.apcointl.org/about/gov/alerts/VoIP_Letter_Sununu.pdf>

Copy of a letter to Senator Sununu (pdf)

*

<http://www.apcointl.org/about/gov/alerts/VoIP_%20Letter_Pickering.pdf> Copy

of the letter to Representative Pickering (pdf)

* <http://www.apcointl.org/about/gov/alerts/McCain.pdf> Copy of

APCO's letter to Senator McCain

*

<http://www.apcointl.org/about/gov/positions/APCO_position_statements.htm#Vo

IP> APCO's Position on VoIP(HTML) /

<http://www.apcointl.org/about/gov/alerts/voipposition.pdf> PDF

*

<http://www.apcointl.org/about/gov/alerts/VoIP-forum-submission.pdf> FCC

VoIP Forum Submission

Make sure you also send a copy of your letters to the APCO International

Office of Government Affairs.

Yucel Ors , Legislative Affairs Manager

APCO International Office of Government Affairs

1725 DeSales Street, NW, Suite 808

Washington, DC 20036

2. Call the local and State office of your elected officials to invite

them to tour your communications center.

Since this is an election year, be ready for them to accept your invitation.

When you invite the elected officials be sure to invite other dignitaries

such as the Mayor, Police Chief, Fire Chief, and others.

If you get a confirmation that the elected officials accepted your

invitation, inform the local media that elected officials and other

dignitaries will be touring your communication center.

When you are conducting the tour of your communications center make sure you

are ready to present your issues to the Representatives and Senators and

other elected officials. Have your talking points ready. Stick to a single

issue, state only a few key points in support of your position and make a

definite request for action. The elected officials want to hear your

thoughts and opinions because you are a constituent. One of your most useful

strategies is to relate the issue and your position to your community.

Local statistics and stories are important and you can be the only source

for such rich information. Do not be afraid to humanize the issue by

relating it to your local community or personal experience. Finally, have

information available that the elected officials and media can take back

with them. If you need collateral information for your event, be sure to

contact APCO International's Office of Government Affairs at .

If your elected officials are not able to take a tour of your communications

center, then make and appointment to see them, or meet with one of their

staff members at their local office.

For tips on meeting with elected officials go to

<http://www.apcointl.org/about/gov/meetingtips.htm>

www.apcointl.org/about/gov/meetingtips.htm.

For more information on this call to action please visit

<http://www.apcointl.org/about/gov/alerts/voipaction.htm>

www.apcointl.org/about/gov/alerts/voipaction.htm.

If you do take any action on this issue or you require assistance in

coordinating your action please contact Yucel Ors , APCO International's

Manager of Legislative affairs at

orsy@... or .