As the number of emergency calls made using VoIP hardware grows, it is becoming necessary to ba able to trace these calls.

VoIP still only accounts for a small percentage of 999 calls in the UK, but as the numbers increase there is cause for concern. Many people that have to make a call to the emergency services either do not know where they are or cannot speak for one reason or another, to explain where they are. With this in mind, it is imperative that calls made using VoIP need to have software enabled that allows tracking.

VoIP calls made using broadband connections can be made from anywhere, which makes tracing calls harder and delays the emergency services response time.

It is not going to be an easy solution and will mean that VoIP providers and ISPs will have to work together to provide the relevant information and it is still not entirely clear as to whether it will be possible for ISP providers to give reverse tracing options. This is obviously not acceptable to emergency services – who at times need all the help they can get when trying to trace a call.

Ofcom may very well get involved with taking on some of the costs involved in developing the software to trace calls and commented that ‘providers may not always be the VoIP providing source, they are obliged by law to provide emergency data if they have access to the information’. This could be the vital steps to providing an affordable VoIP tracing solution.