999 and faults

From AAISP Support Site
Revision as of 09:13, 12 July 2022 by AA-Andrew (talk | contribs)

When making use of VoIP (Voice over IP), careful consideration needs to me made as to how you would make a call to the emergency services if the VoIP service is not working.

What could stop VoIP from working?

The following are scenarios that could make your VoIP number from A&A not work:

  • Power cut in the local area - your internet connection and devices would lose power and not function
  • Fault with internet connection - could be caused by any number of reasons, an internet connection is dependant on a large number of things working, which could break and take some time to get fixed
  • A fault with your equipment - eg a router or telephone stops working for some reason
  • Fault with the ISP or the VoIP provider - Faults can happen.

Suggestions

...For a local power cut

In the past, a standard landline phone could be used to make calls as it would be powered from the exchange and still work if your premises had a power cut. With VoIP this is not the case.

We'd suggest the following as methods to make emergency calls during a power cut to you premises:

  1. Use a mobile phone - ensure you have a mobile or two charged up and with a working service.
  2. Have a UPS (Uninterruptible Power supply) which can power your internet equipment - router, phone, etc so that you have backup power to devices that will enable to you make calls. Test that this works!

...For faults with the internet connection or VoIP service

  1. Use a mobile phone - ensure you have a mobile or two charged up and with a working service.