Providing Emergency Services in Internet Telephony

Assisting during emergencies is one of the important functions of the telephone system. Emergency communications has three components: summoning help during emergencies, coordinating emergency response and notifying citizens and public officials of local emergencies. As we transition to an Internet-based telecommunications system, these functions need to be provided, but there is also an opportunity to add new functionality and improve scalability and robustness. We discuss three aspects of Internet-based communications related to emergencies: First, we describe how Internet telephony can be used to provide emergency call (“911” or “112”) services. Secondly, Internet telephony needs to be enhanced to allow prioritized access to communications resources during emergency-induced network congestion. Finally, Internet event notification can be a valuable new mechanism to alert communities to pending or on-going emergencies such as hurricanes or chemical spills.