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Does Vonage let me call 911 in an emergency?

I'm really enthused about switching from my existing house phone provider to Vonage, since it seems like it'd be cheaper and much more portable, but I'm afraid that 911 calls won't work, which scares me. Can you use 911 from an Internet phone?


Dave's Answer:

Not to worry, just about every Voice over IP (VOIP) telephone service available has some sort of 911 calling system in place so that if it's your only phone line you can still contact emergency services when you need to. I believe it's a law, actually.

I've been using Vonage for a while now and recall that it was a bit tricky to set up the first time (since you had to confirm your address, perhaps?) but once it's enabled on your account, it's surprisingly easy to check and modify it.

For example, when I log in to my own Vonage account, I see the standard navigational menu along the top:

vonage main menu

When I choose "Features" the first thing on the resultant window is:

vonage dialing 911

Want to check the address? Just click on "Edit 911 Dialing Address" and you'll see:

vonage dialing 911 address

(yes, I've grayed out my home address here. You'd see your full address if you logged in and were configured properly)

While we're here, by the way, if you are using Vonage, there's a GREAT feature you can enable in this same area, called Anonymous Call Blocking. Look for this:

vonage anon call block

Click on "Configure" and...

vonage enable anon call block

Well worth blocking anonymous calls because, in my experience, those are just about always telemarketers who don't want you to know who they are before you pick up the handset.

Hope that helps alleviate your concerns about Vonage and similar VOIP services.



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