It's the last barrier to a VoIP surge in the telephony space. It's the wall between VoIP as a dominant player or a fringe technology. It's E911. Face it, solve it, and lead the VoIP category. Ignore it and fail.

At this year's Spring VON, S5 Wireless Inc. is announcing the L-Chip, a fully scaleable E911 solution for VoIP communications. The company has developed a highly reliable and inexpensive solution that will locate a 911 call from any VoIP system. Whether the call comes from indoors or out, in a 50-story high-rise or from inside a shopping mall complex, S5's L-Chip technology will capture the 911 caller's location and transmit the location information to the nearest public safety answering point.

Intrado Inc., a global provider of integrated data and telecommunications solutions and a leading provider of VoIP 9-1-1 services, announced it will showcase emerging auto location technologies in support of 9-1-1 applications at Spring VON, March 14-17 in San Jose, California. Intrado entered into agreements with three leading location determination vendors, Rosum Corporation, S5 Wireless, Inc., and Skyhook Wireless Inc., to show how IP-based communication devices can automatically determine location in the event of a 9-1-1 call.

Covergence, Inc. and RedSky Technologies, Inc. announced a collaborative effort to develop a standardized E911 solution for VoIP service providers (VSPs) of all sizes that will enable them to quickly and easily meet the FCC's mandate requiring interconnected VSPs to offer customers "wireline equivalent" E911 services over existing E911 infrastructure.

eTelemetry, Inc., announced the release of Locate911, a network appliance that enables organizations to dynamically identify the physical location of a VoIP phone on their network. Locate911 provides the physical location of IP phones, which is a key requirement of e911 compliance for enterprises.

Vonage America, a subsidiary of Vonage Holdings Corp., a leading provider of broadband phone service, announced that nearly 65 percent of its customers now have Enhanced 911 service -- a feature that automatically associates a physical address with the calling party's telephone number -- and that it is continuing to quickly equip new counties across the nation with E911 everyday.

Intrado Inc., a global provider of integrated data and telecommunications solutions, announced that Stephen Meer, Intrado chief technology officer and co-founder, has been selected as a 2006 recipient of the E9-1-1 Institute's Honor Awards. Meer was chosen as the Institute's 2006 Industry Professional, which recognizes an individual or organization in the commercial sector for exceptional contributions toward the advancement of emergency 9-1-1 communications.

"The recipients of these awards are considered 'the best of the best' in their field," said Gregory L. Rhode, executive director of the E9-1-1 Institute. "The E9-1-1 Institute is proud to recognize the many accomplishments of Mr. Meer in his distinguished career and what he has done to advance public safety communications. This recognition is very well deserved."

Vonage America, a subsidiary of Vonage Holdings Corp., a leading provider of broadband phone service, announced that almost all of its customers have basic 911 service and that it is continuing to quickly equip new counties across the nation every day with Enhanced 911 service -- a feature that automatically associates a physical address with the calling party's telephone number. In less than two weeks, Vonage turned on E911 service at an additional 125 calling centers, in over 40 new counties, bringing the total number of Vonage customers with E911 to nearly 60 percent.

Intrado Inc., a global provider of integrated data and telecommunications solutions and leading provider of VoIP 9-1-1 services, today announced agreements with three leading location determination technology vendors, Rosum Corporation, S5 Wireless, Inc. and Skyhook Wireless Inc. The agreements reflect the growing importance of location determination in VoIP E9-1-1 service delivery. Intrado will work with these companies to demonstrate a range of location determination solutions and their ability to integrate into Intrado V9-1-1 Services.

RedSky Technologies, Inc., the leading provider of automated E911 solutions to the enterprise, announced that it has joined forces with Intrado Inc., a global provider of integrated data and telecommunications solutions and leading provider of VoIP 9-1-1 services, to add Intrado V9-1-1 for Enterprise to RedSky's Enterprise E911 Location Information Services offering.

RedSky will pair Intrado's service with its award-winning E911 Manager, the industry's first solution that automatically tracks the physical location of IP-based phone users regardless of where they are located. The rapid adoption of VoIP by business, government and education customers has created the need for enhanced 911 (E911) solutions that are extremely flexible. With today's IP soft phones, users can be working inside a company facility, traveling and using a soft phone to access their company's private network, or working remotely using company-assigned IP phone equipment.

InstaDial is pleased to announce that our subsidiary – InstaTelecom Inc. (http://www.instatele.com) will now be providing 911 dialing to our Canadian customers in accordance with the CRTC decision. InstaTelecom Inc. will provide customers with information to educate them on the differences and limitations of this 911 service and the distinctions between VoIP and a traditional landline.

InstaTelecom Inc. will provide clients with critical 911/e911 service limitation and safety information. This important service and safety information identifies the differences between E911 available with traditional phone service and the emergency services associated with our Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Service ("the Service").

Intrado Inc., a global provider of integrated data and telecommunications solutions and leading provider of VoIP 9-1-1 services, announced an agreement with RedSky Technologies, a leading provider of E9-1-1 location information management solutions, to market VoIP E9-1-1 services. Under terms of the agreement, RedSky will market Intrado V9-1-1 for Enterprise to Fortune 500 and mid-cap enterprises.

Intrado Inc., a global provider of integrated data and telecommunications solutions and a leading provider of VoIP 9-1-1 services, announced an agreement with XTEND Communications Corp., a provider of Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) and Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) systems, to market VoIP E9-1-1 services. Under terms of the agreement, XTEND Communications will market Intrado V9-1-1 for Enterprise to large businesses that operate and support their own Internet Protocol Private Branch Exchange (IP-PBX) based networks.

Intrado Inc., a global provider of integrated data and telecommunications solutions and a leader in VoIP 9-1-1 services, announced that it will expand Intrado V9-1-1 Services to include offerings for the enterprise market. Intrado V9-1-1 for Enterprise addresses the challenges faced by enterprise telecommunications managers in supporting applicable regulatory and employee safety requirements.

Vonage Marketing, a subsidiary of Vonage Holdings Corp., a leading provider of broadband phone service, announced that it has turned on emergency 911 service in over 2,200 PSAPs across the country. In less than a week, Vonage equipped over 200 calling centers in more than 35 new counties, with 911 calling capabilities.

Today's world is becoming more and more mobile -- from mobile phones and laptop computers to mobile mp3 players and even VoIP telephones. So what better way to learn about the mobility of IP telephony and IP 911 calling than on a podcast that you can listen to anywhere, anytime? In its @:tech -- Issues in Technology podcast, IP Telephony and 911 Emergency Service Issues, IP911 Resource discusses the problems faced when dialing 911 from an IP-enabled telephone.