19 October 2007
More broadband telephone services, also known as VoIP, will be able to make 999 calls, following the news that provider VegaStream will make emergency calls available.
The firm's new VoIP product will be released as part of its Gateway line.
The announcement comes following research from Ofcom showing that almost half (46%) of household VoIP lines cannot make emergency calls.
In the same report, it was shown that 78% of the users did not know that they would not be able to dial 999 on their line.
Vice president of marketing at VegaStream Steven Davis commented: "VoIP is a wonderful technology with many benefits, such as business process improvements and reductions in costs."
"How companies implement VoIP is really important... don't do it right and it can hurt the ability to make calls, including 999 calls."
One of the main difficulties with calling emergency services through broadband telephony is that, unlike in standard landline calls, there is no way of fixing the caller's location through the phone call - which can be crucial in cases of emergency.
However, VegaStream have bypassed this problem by automatically re-routing the call through the traditional system when 999 is called.
The new service is anticipated to cost around £275.
© 2008 Adfero Ltd
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