Testing 911

I just purchased new ip phone service with Vonage and received an email from them regarding my 911 service.

Please do not test 911 without first checking state and local laws, as dialing 911 in non-emergency situations may be unlawful in certain jurisdictions.

Wow! So the first thing that comes to mind here is I HAVE TO TEST THIS! The QA in my blood is boiling right now. How dare anyone tell me not to test something. That is like giving my son a Buzz Lightyear doll and telling him not to play with it.

I get the "don't call us unless there is an emergency" point they are making. After all, if I were calling for an emergency and was held up because some schmuck was calling to test their service, I would be pissed.

I went looking for solutions and here is what I found:

You are never really without 911 service. I mean, how could you be, you pay for it? What happens is you get routed to the Vonage national emergency response center, I'll refer to that a nerc from now on. So, your call goes to nerc and a trained agent will contact a local emergency center, i'll refer to that as lec from now on. Ok, I hope your following along. So, nerc calls a nearby lec center; great. If you are routed to nerc and lec, you better tell the guy robbing your house to hang tight while you provide nerc and lec with your address and phone number.

I'm trying to be funny; it's probably not working. Anyway, the bottom line is you are always connected; just not directly all the time. In fact, you can dial 933 to get the status of your 911 service. In my situation, I've been connected to the local 911 center before I even received the v-portal from Vonage. That makes me happy. Sounds like the best case scenario is that you are directly connected and the worst case scenario is that you may have to talk to one or two people to get the ball rolling. Have you called 911 recently? I did about a year ago when someone was trying to break into my house and my wife ended up taking to a few people before she got routed to the sheriffs department, while I was at the door guarding my family. In my mind, Vonage is an improvement, no matter what 911 category you fall into. I live far from the city so it may be different for you.

So, with Vonage, my family's life is in the hands of my boradband connection, and my Rugar...