Providing emergency services in internet telephony

Assisting during emergencies is one of the important functions of the telephone system. Emergency communications has three components: summoning help during emergencies, coordinating emergency response and notifying citizens and public officials of local emergencies. As we transition to an Internet-based telecommunications system, these functions need to be provided, but there is also an opportunity to add new functionality and improve scalability and robustness. We discuss three aspects of Internet-based communications related to emergencies: First, we describe how Internet telephony can be used to provide emergency call (“911 ” or “112”) services. Secondly, Internet telephony needs to be enhanced to allow prioritized access to communications resources during emergency-induced network congestion. Finally, Internet event notification can be a valuable new mechanism to alert communities to pending or on-going emergencies such as hurricanes or chemical spills