Nucleus Information Service Inc. - Voice over IP - babyTEL VoIP FAQ

Voice over IP

babyTEL FAQ

How does Nucleus babyTEL e911 service differ from conventional 911 service?

Your safety is paramount

babyTEL's 911 Service provides you a reliable means of reaching help in times of emergency. It is important that you understand how it works, how it differs from traditional phone service and what you must do to ensure that it works smoothly - when you need it.

Differences:

Situation	babyTEL 911	Traditional Telephone 911
Power Outage	Stops working	Continues working
Internet out of service	Stops working	Continues working
Does the 911 dispatcher know your location?	Likely. However in conformance with CRTC regulation, the emergency call center operator will ask you to confirm your location.	Yes, always.
Upon arriving at a new location, will 911 work?	Yes, if you updated your address and received a confirmation. (If not, login to your account and update your address without delay.)	Not applicable, as a traditional telephone line is not portable.

What you must do:

(1) Activate 911 Service: You must activate the 911 Service. This requires you to fill in your address, acknowledge that you understand the limitations of the technology and give your consent. This form is offered to you when you subscribe to the babyTEL service.

(2) Update your address: If you have changed your location, login to your account and update your address.

(3) In an emergency: Call 911 and state the emergency in a clear, calm and discernible voice. The emergency dispatcher will ask you to confirm your current location. When confirming your address, mention any distinguishing landmarks that may help the emergency services personnel locate you quickly.

In order to enable emergency services personnel to call you back if you have been cut off or needed to hang up to attend to the emergency:
(a) Ensure that Call Forwarding and Do-not-disturb are deactivated.
(b) Ensure that your telephone ringer is NOT set to OFF.

How it works:

Determining your location

Due to the portability of VoIP service, babyTEL cannot know your current location unless you keep us advised of changes at all times. babyTEL relies on the address you provide at the time you subscribed or updated subsequently by logging in to your account. This is important to bear in mind. Wrong or outdated information may mean a delay in response time.

Dispatching help

When you dial 911 using the babyTEL Service, we use your address on record to select the PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point) nearest to you and send your call to that center. The operator responding to your call will ask you to confirm your current location. After verifying your address and noting the particulars of your emergency, the operator will contact the appropriate emergency services (police, fire department, paramedics, etc.) and help will be dispatched to your location.

Should I test the 911 Service?

No. You do not need to do this. When you activate the service or subsequently update your address particulars, you will receive a confirmation email from babyTEL informing you that your 911 Service is active and functioning.

Note that dialing 911 when there is no emergency may be a punishable offence in some provinces and states. If you have dialed 911 by mistake, immediately inform the operator that there is NO emergency.

Reliability and good practice

The babyTEL 911 Service is operated in conformance with CRTC directives (Telecom Decision CRTC 2005-21) for nomadic VoIP services.

babyTEL has made every effort to make the 911 Service as reliable as possible through adherence to the highest standards. Unfortunately, like all other emergency services, there exists a small likelihood of failure due to network congestion or equipment malfunction. This is particularly true during a natural (or man-made) disaster when networks, switches and lines are jammed or busy due to abnormal traffic. As 911 is not the only way to reach emergency personnel, it is advisable to keep at hand, direct numbers for the police, fire department, paramedics, etc. FOR THESE REASONS, BABYTEL STRONGLY RECOMMENDS THAT YOU HAVE AN ALTERNATIVE MEANS OF ACCESSING TRADITIONAL 911 SERVICES DURING POWER OUTAGES OR INTERNET FAILURE. THIS COULD BE A TRADITIONAL LANDLINE OR A CELL PHONE.

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