Cablevision

911 : It's different

Cablevision's 911 Service

Following the directives made by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunication Commission 'CRTC' pursuant to Telecom Decision CRTC 2005-21, Cablevision has, in compliance with such directives, implemented an emergency calling service or '911 Service'.

Nomadic VoIP Service

As a current customer of Cablevision® or a future customer of Cablevision, you have subscribed or will subscribe to a Voice over Internet Protocol 'VoIP' telephone service offered by Cablevision according to Cablevision's terms and conditions of service 'VoIP Service'. The VoIP Service that we provide is known as a nomadic service. This means that Cablevision allows you, the customer, to make calls from anywhere that you have access to a broadband internet service. As you know, you can simply bring your telephone devices with you and use the VoIP Service wherever you are located.

However, because of these nomadic capabilities, Cablevision is not currently able to automatically detect whether the service is being used from the registered service address or from some other location. Consequently, when a subscriber relocates, Cablevision no longer has valid 9-1-1 routing or ALI (Automatic Location Information) data with which to process 9-1-1 calls from that customer, unless the customer updates his/her location information.

Activation Required

In order to use the 911 Service, you will need to activate it. This requires you to fill in your address, acknowledge that you understand the limitations of the technology and give your consent. This form is offered to you when you login to your account portal after you subscribe to the Cablevision service.

Intermediary Call Center

Once the 911 Service is activated, all calls by the customer using the 911 Service will be connected to an intermediary (such as a third party call centre), which in turn will transfer the call to the proper PSAP or emergency services agency. Based on the information provided by the customer, the intermediary will direct your call to the appropriate emergency services agency or a public safety answering point.

For a full description of the 911 Service please see 911: It's different!

Limitations To The 911 Service

Cablevision is advising Customer of the following inherent limitations to the 911 Service due to the nomadic characteristics of VoIP Service.

The 911 Service will not be accessible or available in the following situations:

You have not successfully activated the 911 Service AND received an email from Cablevision confirming your successful activation;
In case of Network Congestion; and
a service outage has occurred for any reason, including the following:

Power failure or disruption;
Internet connection outage/termination by your Internet service provider;
Cablevision terminates, suspends or cancels your VoIP Service for any of the reasons specified in our terms of use;

The 911 emergency responders that are part of the 911 Service may be delayed if :

You do not provide us with current and accurate location information (i.e., where you are);
You do not advise us immediately of any changes that you make to the location information that you initially provided us;
Verification of your location information is not completed. It can take up to 24 hours to complete the verification once we receive new location information.
Misroutes of 911 calls occur for any reason including but not limited to your failure to follow correct activation procedures for 911 calling or your provision to us of incorrect or inaccurate or not current information in connection with the 911 Service.

In the event that an emergency call in progress is interrupted, 911 emergency personnel will be unable to call you at the phone from which you originated the call if:

You have call forwarding, do not disturb or other features programmed and in use at the time you dial a 911 call;
Your telephone ringer is set to OFF;

In the interest of everyone's safety, you are obliged to inform all potential users of your Cablevision line of these important limitations.

Limitation Of Liability

Neither Cablevision, its affiliated or related companies nor their officers or employees shall be held liable for any claim, damage, or loss, and you hereby waive any and all such claims or causes of action, arising from or relating to the VoIP Service and/or the 911 Service, including, without limitation, your inability to dial 911 from your line or to access emergency service personnel unless it is proven that the act or omission causing the claim, damage, or loss constitutes gross negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct on the part of Cablevision.

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Cablevision, its affiliated and related companies, their officers, directors, employees, affiliates and agents and any other third party service provider who furnishes services to you or to us in connection with VoIP Service, from and against any and all claims, losses, damages, fines, penalties, costs and expenses (including, without limitation, reasonable legal fees and expenses) by, or on behalf of, you or any third party or user of your VoIP Service relating to the absence, failure or outage of the VoIP Service, including, without limitation the 911 Service and/or your inability or any third person or party or user that you authorize and allow to use and have access to the VoIP Service to be able to dial 911 or to access emergency service personnel, and any misroutes of 911 calls, including but not limited to your failure to follow correct activation procedures for 911 calling or your provision to us of incorrect or inaccurate or not current information in connection with the 911 Service.