HBF Improves 9-1-1 Service Throughout U.S. and Canada18 August 2005
HBF Group, Inc., North America’s E9-1-1 technology leader, today announced that they have advanced their i-911™ Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) solution, already deployed through seven VoIP service providers, by adding i-911 Safety Response Centers to handle VoIP emergency calls.
The i-911 VoIP solution now routes 9-1-1 calls directly to the i-911 Safety Response Centers where they are answered by a live operator who will verify the caller’s location and route the call to the correct Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) while staying on the phone with the caller to confirm that help is received.
The i-911 Safety Response Centers, which are located throughout Canada and the U.S., are staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week and support multiple languages. A Service Provider can choose to have 9-1-1 calls from subscribers go directly to a live Safety Response Center operator. This is particularly important for nomadic users who change the location of their VoIP device, but may not have updated their current location information. It is also a benefit for subscribers who have not opted-in for 9-1-1 service since they can be routed directly to the i-911 Safety Response Center.
HBF’s i-911 Safety Response Centers meet the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) mandate for VoIP Providers and are a supplement to the United States offering as a step towards the FCC’s order for Enhanced 9-1-1. VoIP has received some negative publicity with regards to 9-1-1, as the adoption of this technology has outpaced current 9-1-1 regulation and network access. The FCC requires all VoIP providers to have E9-1-1 by the end of November 2005. HBF will have a complete E9-1-1 solution within that time frame as network components are made available. Until then, the company saw an immediate need for better 9-1-1 service for consumers.
“The FCC’s order for E-911 will benefit everyone. However, while traditional industry carriers are moving forward with allowing access to their 9-1-1 infrastructure by non-traditional carriers, there needs to be a better solution for consumers,” states Jim Shepard, Executive Vice President of HBF. “Our i-911 Safety Response Center complements our solution by having someone answer that emergency call, verify the subscriber information from our database and forward the call on to the proper PSAP.”
“IP Telephony has had its share of problems concerning emergency calls. It’s a new technology that is moving fast and having to integrate with a traditional wire line technology that has been evolving for many years” said Hank Johnson, President of HBF. “Our goal at HBF is to provide the safest, most accurate 9-1-1 services possible.”
HBF is active in several industry associations such as the National Emergency Number Association (NENA), The Emergency Services Interconnection Forum (ATIS/ESIF), the CRTC Interconnection Steering Committee (CISC), and the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) to help set standards and drive technology for the future of all 9-1-1 service. HBF is partnering with NENA on its Next Generation E9-1-1 Program which is focused on upgrading North America’s 9-1-1 systems by implementing next-generation technologies, procedures and best practices.
About HBF
HBF Group, Inc. is the 9-1-1 technology leader providing cutting edge solutions to the 9-1-1 industry. HBF deployed the first state-wide 9-1-1 deployment in the United States as well as the first province-wide deployment in Canada. HBF offers a full line of wireline, wireless, and VoIP 9-1-1 products and services for carriers including Sprint, Verizon, MTS, Aliant, Vonage Canada, WhistlerTel, babyTEL, Broadvox, tufone, PointOne and VoIP, Inc. For more information on HBF, visit www.hbfgroup.com or call 512.481.0911.
Source: PR Web
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