The Texas attorney general has filed a lawsuit against Internet telephone service Vonage Holdings Corp., saying the company fails to clearly tell consumers about the limits of 911 emergency calling over its service.
The suit by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbot asks a state court to order Vonage to stop saying it offers “911 calling,” and change its marketing to highlight the steps a customer needs to take for emergency service. The state also asked for Vonage to pay $20,000 per violation.
Filed under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, the lawsuit seeks to stop Vonage Holdings Corp. from misrepresenting the type of emergency service it offers. It also seeks to require the company to more clearly inform consumers the 911 dialing feature is not automatically activated when they sign up for the service.
Vonage is the largest Internet phone service company with more than 500,000 subscribers. Spokeswoman Brooke Schulz said "We're not clear what the issues are with the disclosures. We're at a loss as to what they want us to change, but we're open to any changes they want."
The suit stems from a incident Feb. 2 where a Houston girl whose parents were shot by robbers couldn't get through to 911.
According to Houston’s ABC affiliate, Joyce John was upstairs at home after school one day when suddenly she heard gunshots and her parents screaming. Her mother, faced with two armed robbers, yelled for the 17-year-old to dial 911.
John's parents were both bleeding from gunshot wounds and Vonage placed her call to an answering machine which instructed her to use another phone for the call. It took a frantic 10 minutes after the robbers fled the home for her to reach another phone – at a neighbor's house.
Independent VoIP providers typically do not have access to the traditional 911 system maintained by local telephone companies. Those systems not only carry calls to emergency dispatchers, but also transmit data about the caller’s location and run separately from the regular telephone network.
As a work-around, Vonage tells customers they need to activate a 911 service. When used, that service directs calls to the administrative telephone lines in the nearest emergency center -- a lower-priority line that in some cases goes unanswered.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has ruled that states do not have the authority to force Vonage to offer the same 911 service as traditional telephone companies. Cable companies that offer VOIP service typically provide regular 911 calling, using prior agreements with telephone companies.
Abbott’s case appears to argue that Internet-based providers are selling phone service without sufficiently warning customers that they won't be able to make 911 calls. "It's a significant consumer-protection lawsuit," said Angela Hale, a spokeswoman for Abbott. "This is the first in the nation for an attorney general."
Schulz said Vonage sends customers several notices to remind them to activate their 911 service, including a monthly e-mail to all those who have yet to activate. She also said the company had access to regular 911 service in Rhode Island, and was working on gaining access in other parts of the country.
David Sims is contributing editor and CRM Alert columnist for TMCnet.
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