On Sun, 17 Jul 2005 20:17:45 -0400 in Ray wrote:
I saw a news piece recent in which folks died because their VOIP provider
did not offer 911 calling. In the article, it was stated that it was not
presently required.

I could be mistaken, but the last big one of those in the news was
because the customer failed to follow the instructions of providing
information to the voip provider so that 911 service could be provided.
If you opt for something like that, call 911 and let them know that
you are testing to make sure 911 1) Works and 2) is going to the right
center. Check back issues of Risks Digest (comp.risks) for details.

That said, if an ice storm or hurricane takes out power over an extensive
area you may not have enough juice to get to your ISP, and your ISP
might be lacking juice as well. Your Plain Old Telephone Service
will frequently still be working so that family members can call at
4am to check to see if you're dead from hypothermia or hydrogen monoxide
poisoning. To be fair, my POTS tends to go out when lightning hits the
substation next to the phone bunker for my area.

--
Chris Dukes
Suspicion breeds confidence -- Brazil