IP telephony has for long now been tagged as not viable since 911/E911 is not always available with the service. In 2005, fixed (landline-replacement) service providers were mandated by the FCC to offer 911 and E911 services to their subscribers, but the more flexible software-based services were kept out of this legislation. Earlier this month, the US Senate finally passed a bill requiring all VoIP service providers, of all types, including software-based services, to offer 911 and E911 services to their subscribers. The FCC will then follow up with this bill and implement the legislation soon.

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