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Ignite Home Phone 911 Concerns

Messor_Animae
I plan to stick around

The problems with 911 access during a Rogers system failure wilI not be remedied by anything that Rogers does to enable continuation of 911 service for cell phone network users. Ignite Home Phone users do not and will not have reliable 911 service, only cell phone service subscribers will potentially have reliable 911 service if there is a failure of Rogers' system.

 

I just got switched to Ignite and the Ignite Home Phone is not reliable and 911 service will is not available when there's a Rogers internet problem or power failure to the Ignite internet modem. The previous Rogers "legacy" Home Phone connected through the tv cable and had a battery backup in it so it continued to work if there was an internet problem or power to the phone's own modem was lost/failed.

 

To remedy the problem with unreliable 911  Ignite Home Phone Service Rogers must either provide a separate Home Phone modem like the "legacy" Home Phone modem or a battery backup/UPS for the  ignite internet modem or a cell network connection device with battery backup. 

9 REPLIES 9

Re: Ignite Home Phone 911 Concerns

57
Resident Expert
Resident Expert

@Messor_Animae wrote:

1. only cell phone service subscribers will potentially have reliable 911 service if there is a failure of Rogers' system.

 

2. The previous Rogers "legacy" Home Phone connected through the tv cable and had a battery backup in it so it continued to work if there was an internet problem or power to the phone's own modem was lost/failed.


1. This has been the case for many years. Let me explain further.

2. Although legacy digital cable had a separate modem with battery backup, this hasn't provided 100% reliable phone service for many years. This is because the node feeding the signal to your home goes down in the event of a local power failure.  These nodes used to contain battery backups, but service providers (Bell, Rogers, etc) have not been replacing these (very expensive) batteries for many years. 

 

Although a few of these node batteries may still be functioning, most people have their home phone go down if there is a local power failure. It was the case for me for at least 5 years.  This is even true for people on Bell's twisted pair copper feed because that copper feed is, in most instances, fed by fibre to the node, which again requires power in your local area.  

 

To summarize, if power goes down in your area it doesn't matter if you have battery backup on the modem, or a UPS in your home (like I had), you will likely be without phone service.

 

The only way to have reliable 911 access is to have a cell phone.  This cell phone can be with another service provider, or it can even be a phone that you don't pay service for, but has the SIM removed because then that phone will connect to any cell tower of any service provider.  But even then 911 may not be accessed if the cell tower is down or if the tower is too far away.  You can remove the SIM from your phone to access 911 with any operational cell phone tower.  People have been giving their old phones, with SIMs removed, to women's shelters, or similar services for years.

 

Since most people do have a cell phone these days, having higher reliability of a home phone service has simply not been a priority, especially if it costs extra money.  

Re: Ignite Home Phone 911 Concerns

Messor_Animae
I plan to stick around

Yesterday, during a hearing in Ottawa, the Rogers CEO and CTO told Members of Parliament and the Minister in charge of telecommunications that they guarantee there will be reliable 911 service which is not true. The Members of Parliament and the Minister should be made aware of the problem with unreliable 911 service through VOIP/Home Phone and that new law/regulation is necessary to force Rogers, Bell, and other phone service providers to make 911 VOIP/Home Phone service reliable during a power failure and/or internet service problem.

Re: Ignite Home Phone 911 Concerns


@Messor_Animae wrote:

....make 911 VOIP/Home Phone service reliable during a power failure and/or internet service problem.


Not going to happen.  Over 90% of people now have access to a cell phone and home phone is quickly fading away.

 

These days when people talk about access to 911, the conversation is about wireless, not home phone.  The discussions regarding the Rogers outage earlier this month centered mostly on wireless, then Internet. TV and home phone were barely mentioned and, if mentioned, only as an afterthought.

Re: Ignite Home Phone 911 Concerns

Messor_Animae
I plan to stick around

There are many older people who do not have a cell phone, they rely on their home phone and use a device that autodials when they fall. If the power fails their life is potentially threatened because they are not able to phone 911 and their autodial device won't be able to phone their emergency service. 

Re: Ignite Home Phone 911 Concerns

The systems that use a home phone are older technology. The latest medic alert (fall alert, etc) systems use wireless for exactly the reasons you mention and can be used in more locations. Sample link below:

 

https://www.caretrak.ca/frequently-asked-questions

 

As has been mentioned several times, the only way to have reliable emergency service (either 911 or medic alert) is with wireless (in most areas of the country).  Home Phone is not, and will not be, 100% reliable. It is on the way out, hence no additional funds will be spent on that technology.  You're flogging a dead horse.

 

Edit: Still newer technology will involve the use of smart watches for everyone who desires it, not just the elderly. These can monitor heart rate, movement, lack of movement, etc, and send an emergency notice if so programmed, etc.  This can also involve AI.

Re: Ignite Home Phone 911 Concerns

Messor_Animae
I plan to stick around

The 5 year contract bulk agreement package at the condominium I live in includes a home phone. The "legacy" services are being replaced throughout the building with Ignite which is inferior in many ways to the "legacy" services. For example, the "legacy" home phone had a separate modem connected to the coax cable and it has an integral battery backup to ensure it worked during a power failure. The Ignite modem is an internet modem the home phone directly connects to which does not have a battery backup so when power fails there's no telephone service which eliminates the ability to phone 911, that's unacceptable.

 

Re: Ignite Home Phone 911 Concerns

Pauly
Resident Expert
Resident Expert

The older legacy home phone services uses very old technology which is at the end of it's lifecycle, they do not make newer equipment nor batteries either,  You benefitted from it for the last decade and now since its at the end of its life you will be switched to ignite.

 

You are free to buy an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) from the electronics store and plug the new modem into it, so it can continue to operate during a Hydro Outage, no one is preventing you from doing this. The only thing you need to know is this technology is made by a different company than your older one so every company does things differently, some give you battery back up, you can still get battery backup on the new one but you have to now do it yourself, but the good news is you can also plug in your cordless phone base station into the same battery back up, so you can complete your call during hydro outage.

 

When people hear "no battery backup" they think its the end of the world, but remember, you can just as easily buy one its not the  end of the world they sell them at BestBuy, staples, and other places that sell electronics.

Re: Ignite Home Phone 911 Concerns


@Messor_Animae wrote:

The 5 year...the "legacy" home phone had a separate modem connected to the coax cable and it has an integral battery backup to ensure it worked during a power failure. 


I guess you haven't bothered to read my previous posts.  The battery in your legacy cable modem was of no value if the phones in your home were not also plugged into a UPS (or were old-style phones that did not have an electrical plug).

 

The home phone would also not work if the Rogers node near the home went down due to a power failure, which is very common, even if you had all the batteries in place at the residence.  You can continue to flog this dead horse, but I will no longer waste my time explaining why home phone, even legacy digital cable, is/was not reliable.

 

The battery in your legacy cable modem gave you nothing but false security.

Re: Ignite Home Phone 911 Concerns

Messor_Animae
I plan to stick around

So, your statement "The battery in your legacy cable modem gave you nothing but false security." is what's wrong with Rogers, false security, just as the recent statements by Rogers' CEO and CTO to the MPs and the Minister, that 911 service will be reliable and dependable.

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