999 over VoIP for businesses

Voice over IP (VoIP) firm VegaStream has released a new version of its firmware product for its Gateway line, which allows 999 calls to be made over VoIP lines.

Earlier this year, Ofcom released research which suggested 46 per cent of household VoIP lines are unable to call 999, and 78 per cent of VoIP users didn't realise they couldn't make 999 calls over their line. Ofcom published proposals to force all suppliers to allow 999 calls by early next year.

"VoIP is a wonderful technology with many benefits, such as business process improvements and reductions in costs," said vice president of marketing Steven Davis. "How companies implement VoIP is really important... don't do it right and it can hurt the ability to make calls, including 999 calls."

One of the challenges of VoIP services is that it doesn't offer information on the caller's location, Davis said. Making a 999 call from a landline automatically alerts emergency response services to your location. "You don't get that with VoIP," Davis said.

Installed on a local area network, the new system views the outgoing number, and if its 999 automatically routes the call thru the standard PSTN, rather than the VoIP network. The tool can also be used to add resiliency to VoIP networks, as it pushes the system onto PSTN if the broadband connection fails.

The cost of the product is dependent on the number of VoIP lines, but Davis said a £275 deployment would cover some 120 such lines.

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