18 month old dies after family dials 911 from VOIP phone

[Kritafo]

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/...593f16&k=16722

Calgary tot dies after parents make frantic 911 call from their VOIP phone and wait 40 min for paramedics. Apparently they never got the call and the neighbors dialed with a land line and help came.

Makes you rethink the VOIP phones. They did think the call went through.

[01RedDX]

.

[rage2]

There's laws in the US that require all VOIP providers to collect mandatory information from all subscribers to determine their proper 911 coverage to avoid this problem. Oddly enough, these laws aren't applicable in Canada. In the US there's no switchboard, it goes straight to your locall 911.

If you subscribed before the new rules, your service would've been suspended until you activated 911. So everyone has it in place.

[sputnik]

Shaw directs all 911 calls to the City of Calgary switchboard automatically.

I am assuming the family involved in this tragedy was most likely using Primus or Vonage.

[Kritafo]

Just heard they way their VOIP works is they dial 911 and their provider then contacts 911 on their behalf. The provider is Com-wave which is not in Calgary.

[turbo4dr]

wow this is sad to here .......RIP....

[Xtrema]

Never nickel and dime your primary phone line. Nothing beat a pair of copper wires and proven decades old technology.

[JMaj7]

i heard something like compuserve or something like that on the news last night

[rage2]

Comwave advertises "enhanced 911 service".

http://www.comwave.net/CDN/iPhone/faq.htm#q9

$50 says they didn't set it up properly.

[98type_r]

Originally posted by rage2
Comwave advertises "enhanced 911 service".

http://www.comwave.net/CDN/iPhone/faq.htm#q9

$50 says they didn't set it up properly.

I think it was more along the lines of someone at this "third party" dropped the ball. It will be interesting to see if at the end of this investigation it turns out they outsource their 911 calls overseas.

[Heff]

Originally posted by rage2
Comwave advertises "enhanced 911 service".

Q. Is 911 or 411 available? Back
A. Comwave 911 works through a third party that answers your emergency calls and then dispatches the authorities. Comwave is the only company to provide emergency responders with key information about critical medical history. We encourage you to log on-line to the iPhone web portal to complete the 911 registration. There you will also be able to confidentially list medical information about people in your household so that in the event of an emergency the authorities will have critical information. 411 at the present time is not available.



That is NOT E-911 service.

[sexualbanana]

Anyone see the front page of the Sun? They showed a picture of the dead fucking baby. That is just not cool. The Herald showed a picture of the baby too, but nowhere near as bad.

[anarchy]

Originally posted by sexualbanana
Anyone see the front page of the Sun? They showed a picture of the dead fucking baby. That is just not cool. The Herald showed a picture of the baby too, but nowhere near as bad.

WTF!
I don't know if the family authorized that photo but that is really inappropriate! The photo in the Herald is nowhere close to the one on the Sun!

RIP to the baby Elijah, and to VOIP.

Ps. Ironic last name for the baby.

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by sexualbanana
Anyone see the front page of the Sun? They showed a picture of the dead fucking baby. That is just not cool. The Herald showed a picture of the baby too, but nowhere near as bad.

I thought that was the picture when he's was born. How can a 18 month baby be that small?

[anarchy]

I don't think it's a picture of him when he died, but it's still a creepy ass picture of a very sick baby.

[sexualbanana]

Yeah, I'm starting to see that now. Either way it's really creepy

[Ben]

Thats so brutal. I hadn't even heard of that VOIP company before. My Folks have Shaw and when they called an ambulance, they were there in <4min. Twice actually. Pays to do with a proven provider. People take phone service for granted.

[Kritafo]

they just updated the info and said an ambulance was sent...in Ontario to their former home. Comwave said it was the last address they had for them...which I call bull on...since...well how the hell are the getting their bill sent to them?

[Heff]

Originally posted by Kritafo
they just updated the info and said an ambulance was sent...in Ontario to their former home. Comwave said it was the last address they had for them...which I call bull on...since...well how the hell are the getting their bill sent to them?

Email Billing.
Internet Bill Payment.

Welcome to 1998, friend.

[spikerS]

funny, even the CEO / Owner of comwave does not even use his services, and has a regular land line and cell.

Way to stand behind your product!