[cisco-voip] Emergency Calling from VoIP Remote Sites

[Walt Moody]

Group,

We have several sites which are remote from the main campus but are
"local" in as much as they are located within Qwest's Tucson rate
center.  The ones that are equipped with Voice over IP get all of
their connectivity and DID extension numbers from the CallManager
clusters on campus.  The CallManager clusters are equipped with Cisco
Emergency Responders so that all 911 calls are routed to the proper
PSAPs with the proper emergency response address as set up in the
Intrado database.

When everything is working properly, all 911 calls go where they're
supposed to go and have the correct response location in the PSAP's
automatic location identifier field.

A remote site user asked "Will I be able to call 911 from my location
with my VoIP phone when the WAN is down?" and our answer is "No."

So the question for the group:  Is it your custom to provide facilities
(phone line, gateway interface interface card, DSPs, SRST software,
etc.) solely to allow access to 911 in the event of a WAN failure?

Is the possibility that the WAN will be broken at the exact time
someone needs emergency help (and can't find a cell phone) great
enough to justify the additional facilities?

Thanks in advance.

-walt