Fergie's Tech Blog

Vonage's E911 Bill: $500,000

Paul Kapustka writes on GigaOm:

In an arrangement that does not admit guilt of any kind, VoIP provider Vonage1 nevertheless has agreed to pay Texas2 and five other states3 a total of $500,000 to settle deceptive trade-practices lawsuits brought against the company in 2005. The lawsuits were spurred by highly publicized incidents4 where Vonage users who dialed 911 didn’t get directly connected to emergency operators.

To its credit, Vonage turned the situation (which included follow-on action from the FCC requiring VoIP operators5 to beef up 911 services) into a positive, using the controversy to get better access6 to 911 infrastructure. The company also spent extensively to improve its own emergency operations, claiming Monday that 94 percent of its lines7 now have E911 service.

posted by Fergie @ 1/30/2007 01:39:00 PM