APCO urges McCain to fight for VoIP 911 regulations

Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials International President Vincent Stile recently wrote Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, urging McCain to take action concerning the regulation of voice-over-IP (VoIP) services.

“APCO is deeply concerned that without “appropriate regulatory requirements, the rapid deployment of VoIP will have a serious, negative effect on the provision of 911 emergency communications across our nation,” Stile wrote.

The problem, according to APCO, is that VoIP service providers are not required to provide the full range of 911 communications services, which could result in VoIP 911 calls being routed to the wrong public-safety answering point. APCO called on McCain to support “enforceable regulations” that would apply to all VoIP providers.