Over the years, Fayette County residents have come to depend on a vital link in an emergency: dialing 911 to get help fast.

But new technology in phone service is threatening that system for some local residents who have switched to Voice Over Internet Protocol, known as VOIP, while ditching the traditional “land line” phone system.

VOIP customers may not realize when they dial 911, their call may be going to a call center outside Georgia, said Cheryl Rogers, director of the Fayette County Emergency-911 Center. In such cases, employees at that call center must look up which 911 center they need to direct the call to, Rogers said.

That could cost valuable seconds, maybe even minutes, that could make the difference between saving a life or catching a criminal.

A local resident found that out several weeks ago when he dialed 911 on his VOIP home phone system. Minutes passed by without a fire truck or an ambulance arriving on the scene, Rogers said. Fortunately, the man used his cell phone to call 911, which sent him directly to the Fayette County 911 center, she said.

That cell phone call was the first time the Fayette County 911 center had heard about the emergency, and units were dispatched immediately, Rogers said.

“He said, ‘I already called you guys,’” Rogers recalled.

But he hadn’t. Somehow, the man’s original 911 call got mixed in the shuffle due to his VOIP provider. It wasn’t until about 15 minutes after the situation was resolved that local 911 officials contacted the man’s VOIP provider about the mix-up.

The company’s answer?

“They were still looking for us,” Rogers said.

Fortunately, the medical emergency was resolved despite the delay, Rogers said.

Consumers should find out exactly what happens when you dial 911, and ask other tough questions of your provider relating to 911 service, Rogers said. Find out where the phone call goes, for instance, and how long it can take to route a 911 call from the VOIP call center.

There are a large number of VOIP companies operating in Georgia, and working with them to iron out flaws in the system is a slow process, Rogers said.

When a call is made to Fayette County 911 from a traditional “land line” the dispatcher gets an immediate display of the billing address for that phone and the associated telephone number, Rogers said. Dispatchers always verify that information to make sure they send help to the appropriate location, she added.

Local 911 officials are working with cell phone companies to develop a system for retrieving the caller’s location when they dial 911, but the system is not ready yet, she added.

In the meantime, old technology referred to as POTS, short for Plain Old Telephone System, may be the best way to get help quickly, officials say.

“I’m not ever getting rid of my land line,” Rogers said.

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