Ofcom demands 999 access via VoIP

VoIP providers have been set a target of "early 2008" to ensure their users can access the 999 emergency services over the internet-based calls, following an Ofcom edict.

The communications regulator wants all web voice communications to be able to make 999 calls if they also allow users to make calls to landlines.

This follows research which found some 78 per cent of VoIP users thought they could make emergency calls over their service, while in reality only around 64 per cent of users can do so.

Ofcom said in a statement that if VoIP users had to "locate an ordinary landline or mobile phone, users might face a delay of seconds or minutes in getting through to emergency services, which could prove critical".

The watchdog estimated that the added cost to VoIP providers in adding access to 999 calls would only be around 90p per household each year and said the measure would closely mimic other initiatives currently under consideration in other European countries as, unlike other telephony systems, VoIP is not bound by national borders.

This follows Ofcom's publication of a code of practice for VoIP providers in February this year which made it compulsory for users to be told whether their service allows them access to emergency lines, but Ofcom's recent survey results seem to show this has not had complete success in educating users.