Holmdel, NJ, April 18, 2006 ? Vonage America Inc., a subsidiary of Vonage Holdings Corp., a leading Internet telephony provider, today announced that nearly 80 percent of its U.S. subscriber lines now have Enhanced 911 (E911) service ? a feature that automatically associates a physical address with the calling party's telephone number ? and that it is continuing to quickly equip new counties across the nation with E911 everyday.
For the past six months, Vonage has been turning up on average over 112 calling centers in more than 45 new counties each week. Over the past two weeks, Vonage equipped an additional 260 calling centers in over 45 new counties with E911 ? bringing the total number of calling centers across the nation with emergency service to over 4300.
In June, the FCC gave Vonage, and all Internet-based phone service companies, 120 days to create an E911 system from scratch, and provide all of its customers, wherever they are in the U.S., with E911 service. In that amount of time, Vonage worked closely with local 911 centers, also known as Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs), across the country to turn on E911 for as many customers as it could. Currently, Vonage continues to test and turn up new PSAPs which are VoIP-ready every day and will continue to do so until Vonage customers have access to E911.
?Today close to 80 percent of our U.S. subscriber lines have full E911 capability,? said Jeffrey A. Citron, Vonage's chairman and chief strategist. ?Vonage will continue to work with the FCC, regulators, Congress and public safety until PSAPs across the nation are equipped with E911.?
Since April 4th, Vonage has added the following counties to its list of those with E911 capabilities - bringing the total number of calling centers with emergency 911 service to over 4300.
*In the event Vonage is unable to connect to the 911 system or for customers who are using mobile devices such as Wi-Fi phones or softclients, Vonage offers a national emergency call center which enables customers to get local help when they need it.