I’ve read some more, looked at information from other providers, and even tried to read through the FCC order. The information seems to differ between VRS and TRS/IP-Relay.

In the FCC order, it says that a LTN for VRS will be mapped to a URI with IP address and protocol, and a LTN for IP Relay is mapped to a URI with domain name and user name. Which makes me think maybe they don’t need a fixed IP address for IP-Relay. But the relay provider we have used does not distinguish. Here is the part of the “consumer advisor” on one relay provider’s registration site:
IMPORTANT information about your dynamic IP address:

In order to keep your E911 information current and ensure delivery of all
your voice-inbound calls, your relay service provider must know the IP
address of your registered device AT ALL TIMES. Your IP Address is what
‘links’ your device to your ten-digit number. Many individuals have a
‘dynamic IP address’, which means the IP address assigned to your device
periodically changes. How often your IP address changes depends on your
local Internet Service Provider.

NOTICE:If and when your dynamic IP address changes, the ‘link’ between your
IP Address and ten-digit number becomes broken.

To adress this problem and to keep our records current, each night our
system will send a signal to every registered IP Address. This action will
tell us if your dynamic IP address is the same or has changed. If we
determine your IP Address has changed, you will be notified via email. In
the email, you will be directed to a webpage to update your IP Address
information. It is crucial you update your IP Address information
immediately to avoid interruption of your voice-inbound calls. You will
continue to receive daily email reminders until you update your IP address
registration information.

From first response:
> The system is designed to work with dynamic addresses and updating of
> those addresses is automatic rather than something that the user must do.
Not automatic, according to the relay provider’s signup information above.

From second response:
> What is required is a way to contact the device when an incoming call is
> received. This is usually accomplished by establishing some kind of port
> forwarding to the device, which does take some firewall configuration.
Straight-forward with a typical home DSL or cable broadband setup.
Pretty much impossible in a medium-to-large business.

I will continue my research, probably check other providers.
Thanks again for the information.

I got two responses from acknowledged experts. Basically they said dynamic ip address should not be a problem.

First response:

“Ed:
The system is designed to work with dynamic addresses and updating of those addresses is automatic rather than something that the user must do. It certainly works with DHCP etc. A public IP address was always required to communicate with a VP, simply because that’s all the public Internet can route on and I know that service providers were previously able to adapt to reach users behind corporate networks. The design arguments in developing iTRS involved how to take the information that relay providers already used to set up calls (but held privately) available to other relay providers. My question is whether a problem has actually been encountered or someone is speculating about a problem based on a reading of second hand information.

If folks are encountering problems these need to be reported to the chosen relay provider in sufficient detail for them to be worked. I expect that all parties, including corporate and government location IT support, will work together to resolve these.”

Second response:

“Video Phones used for VRS are designed to announce their public IP address, which could be NATed from an internal private address, to their default video relay provider. The VP usually gets its IP address via DHCP and it can change often and still work. The database is dynamically updated with the current (public) IP address. What is required is a way to contact the device when an incoming call is received. This is usually accomplished by establishing some kind of port forwarding to the device, which does take some firewall configuration. The 10 digit number scheme does not change the way VPs handle addressing from what it was before the 10 digit plan was put into effect. As with any other public service, private proxies have to be completely transparent to the VP signaling, which is standard H.323.

There would be some level of concern on E9-1-1, but it is the same level of concern if 9-1-1 was called from a cell phone. Effectively, you get the same result. If calling 9-1-1 from a cell phone next to the device gets you the internal response agencies, then it is very likely a 9-1-1 call from the VP will get the same response.”

Hope that answers your question.

eyes open & thumbs up,

Ed

Let me do a little digging and will get back to you or if I can persuade a geek from VRS industry to comment directly. Hold ur horse, but not ur breath for the time being ;-]

Another issue that was recently raised was outfitting deaf schools with video phones; many of the locations are really public, so how to deal with that?

I’m sure that the FCC will allow that, but I think will require someone to submit a request of clarification to the FCC on this.

Finally, I think a few – not all VRS providers, can handle dynamic IP Address in one location so you may want to check out other VRS providers whether they can or not.

eyes open & thumbs up,

Ed

The irony is that this ‘feature’ seems to exist just to support E911, and E911 doesn’t WORK at our facility. We have on-site security/fire/medical service that takes all emergency calls instead.

I really hope I’m misunderstanding this, because I don’t know what we are going to do.

More about E-911, 10-Digit Numbers and Local Number Portability. http://www.purple.us/advisories/index.html (text and vlog format)

10-digit Number: Myths and Truths http://www.hovrs.com/purplenumber/Default.aspx (vlog format)

Purplelicious,

John R.

Good questions. I do not know all the answers, but for those I don’t know the answer, I can give you best educated answer.
Q#1: LNP stands for Local Number Portability which is same as Local Telephone Number – landline phone number. With LTN or LNP from VRS and IP Relay providers, one can call E911. Question is should deaf/hoh give up regular phone network and use VRS or IP Relay instead since they now can access E911? That will be up to them to decide that. Remember regular telephone network does not depend on electricity to make 911 calls while VRS does, IP Relay with pager use battery.
Q#2: the 800 numbers. vlog explained that you need to first get LTN from VRS providers to make the 800 work. At least that is how I understood it to be.
Q#3: Welcome to the competition. Just like hearing folks, they cannot try out all the services, they go by advertising.
Q#4: if IPhone can do IP Relay, then should be able to get LTN for the pager and then one can make e911 calls.
Q#5: telecaption phone communication? I do not think it is part of VRS or IP Relay services, if so then no can’t get LTN for that.
Q#6: The Number Order REQUIRED that IP Relay can access E911 including laptops, pagers and computers. I do not know if the technical issues have been FULLY resolved or not. You will need to ask the IP Relay provider if they can or not.

eyes open & thumbs up,

Ed

1. What does LNP stand for? Does this indicate that is the land line phone
which I have had for years? I have heard stories that many deaf
people are giving up their own phone because they want to save
money and everything can be communicated with “Free VP services.”
Is it essential to keep one landphone number on hand so one can dial simply the 911 number on a phone?

2. Of all the 800 numbers given to me by various VRS companies,
does it mean that these numbers would not last more than 6 months?
It sounds like I must make use of it perhaps once or twice within six
months. If I lost one 800 number from a VRS company, will I be able
to get it back or do I have to register again?

3. How can I decide which VRS service is the best for me if I dont
try them out all? I cannot decide this till after several months of comparison
then I can select one for E911 service. I wish there is a time limit
for one to compare each different type of services before picking one
for emergency service.

4. Because I lost my Sidekick pager a few weeks ago and I am in the
process of purchasing iPhone as my new pager. Will I be able to make use
it for E9111 services?

5 If a deaf or HOH person wants to use telecaption phone communication, is it necessary to register for ten digit numbers? Do they get it from Ultratec or Sprint? Will it work for E911 service using the ten digit numbers?

6. I know some people do not use vrs at all because they use exculsively the IP relay set up on there computer. How does this work out with the E911 if they dont use the VRS relay services much? Hope you get the gist of what I am saying.

Hope you or your readers can help me with all the things I need to understand above.

Happy New Year to all of you.

Steve Brenner, Potomac, MD