Industry Company President Calls For Action By Market ProvidersCalgary (eCanadaNow) - After a tragedy in which a young Calgary toddler died when an ambulance was sent to the wrong house last week there are increasingly calls for action across the VoIP industry.
The system failed for a Calgary family in Calgary, an emergency 911 telephone call resulted in the ambulance being sent to the wrong address in Mississauga, while the actual emergency was at the family home in Calgary.
Eighteen-month-old baby Elijah Luck died while waiting for the ambulance to arrive, after it was sent to the wrong city. In the type of telephone system that the Luck family had, the telephone is routed over the Internet. In this system, the customer is responsible for updating their 911 address and telling the VoIP provider where they are actually living.
The Luck family had previously lived in Mississauga but had moved to Calgary without updating their 911 address with the phone company. When they dialed 911 the company relayed the message to the 911 operators at the last listed address, which the company thought was in Mississauga.
As is typical in many cases the Lucks had changed their billing address but not their listed 911 location. VoIP provider Canadian Comwave president Yuval Barzakay stated that it is important that customers take the extra step and update their 911 addresses with their phone provider when they move, if they have the VoIP Internet Phone Service.
