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NEWS

First live demo of a location-aware VoWiFi emergency dial-up solution

Three firms - TeleCommunication Systems, Skyhook Wireless and deltathree Inc. - are co-operating to demonstrate "nomadic VoIP E911 call support" at the VON Conference in Boston, USA (20-22 September).

In the demonstration, deltathree's VoIP subscribers use a Wi-Fi access point and a "soft client phone" (PC Phone) to call 911, the telephone number for integrated access to local police, fire and ambulance services in the United States. Skyhook's Wi-Fi based positioning system then determines the caller's location so that TCS's "E911 for VoIP" solution can route the call to the appropriate phone bank and display the caller's latitude and longitude.

A joint press release from the three companies quoted Skyhook's CEO Ted Morgan as saying: "This is the first live demonstration of a nomadic VoIP E911 solution using automatic location technology."

The US Federal Communication Commission has set rules to support wireless VoIP access to 911, which carriers have so far found difficult to implement.

[VoWiFi: 22 September 2005]