Call to 911 answered in English only
La Presse reports that some local calls to 911 over VOIP services have gone to an answering service that functions only in English, which can be a safety issue when the caller only speaks French.
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Kate
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bob 10:21 on 2024-01-15 Permalink
Paranoid nationalist histrionics to follow…
Kate 11:06 on 2024-01-15 Permalink
To be fair, nobody operating a phone service here should be channeling emergency calls to a service that doesn’t handle French.
On the other hand, the customers trying to save a buck by using VOIP ought to have asked about how those services handle emergency calls.
Ephraim 11:14 on 2024-01-15 Permalink
Hey, it’s less than $9.50 a month for what appears to be a voice line. The service that I use offers E911, but does warn to change your address if using the SoftVoip app. But my calls do go directly to 911.
But also, included, they offer an (English Only) CAPTCHA for calls. I haven’t heard from a politician, a telemarketer or a fake CRA scammer in years! (I do have to manually turn it off if I’m waiting for a call back from a machine). Press (random number) to connect your call now.
Andrew 11:19 on 2024-01-15 Permalink
On the VOIP provider website, and I assume the agreement the customer signs, there’s a very broad disclaimer that they don’t guarantee anything about reaching 911 at all.
Ephraim 12:07 on 2024-01-15 Permalink
@Andrew – Correct. For example https://www.voipmuch.ca/911_policy.asp
jeather 13:06 on 2024-01-15 Permalink
I’m curious how it would work with me — for reasons I have never entirely understood, my home ISP is geolocated to Toronto. I don’t have a home phone of any sort, but would it think I was in Toronto if I called 911?
carswell 13:46 on 2024-01-15 Permalink
@jeather It’s based on where your ISP’s server is located.
I recently switched to TekSavvy whose server somewhere around Hamilton, so websites (Google Maps, shopping sites, etc.) assume that’s where I’m based unless I’ve fired up my VPN and selected one of its Montreal servers. Would imagine that’s how it works with VOIP too but can’t confirm.
jeather 14:04 on 2024-01-15 Permalink
I’m also Teksavvy! I don’t mind it because I can see all those websites that are blocked in Quebec.
dhomas 18:08 on 2024-01-15 Permalink
If you’re using e911 with your VoIP provider, you must register your home address or the address where your VoIP service will be used. Since VoIP is internet-based, you can use it from anywhere, hence the reason you need to register your address. Your VoIP provider will generally pass along your registered address to the local 911 provider. It is NOT based on your device’s IP address (like in the Teksavvy example above).
There is a cost associated to e911 for providers, which some might pass along to their users or might bake into the cost of their service. For example, my provider, voip.ms, charges 1.50$/month for e911 service:
https://wiki.voip.ms/article/E911
Transat Telecom does not seem to use e911 at all and just sends all their 911 calls to a 911 centre called Norther 911, probably as a cost-saving measure (see above). IMO, e911 should be mandatory for VoIP providers, but it’s difficult to enforce. You can buy a VoIP service from pretty much anywhere in the world. Transat Telecom being a Quebec-based company, though, should have e911 enabled and quit being cheap before someone dies from inadequate emergency service.
rob 09:15 on 2024-01-16 Permalink
I don’t get french service eithe when I call 911 from facebook messenger. neither from viber, wattsapp, signal, instagram, myspace, ICQ or AIM.
dhomas 10:18 on 2024-01-16 Permalink
@rob: I don’t know if you’re being sarcastic, but those are pretty much all mobile apps, some of which can’t even access 911 (ex WhatsApp: https://faq.whatsapp.com/1153602608602452/?cms_platform=android&helpref=platform_switcher).
If you are on mobile, you ALWAYS have access to 911, even without a SIM card or active subscription (the SIM card is used to tell the provider who to bill the call to, and 911 calls are not billed to the end user). Those calls are routed to a local PSAP based on the cell tower’s location. So, you would get French service.
jeather 10:28 on 2024-01-16 Permalink
Thanks for the info, dhomas.