Oh, jeez. Way to go, Vonage:

A Minnesota homeowner charges VoIP provider Vonage put him on hold when he called 911 to report his house was on fire. The home was a total loss.

Loren Velthamp of Chanhassen, Minnesota, said he grabbed the phone and called 911 when he realized a fire has started in his home. “I called 911 using Vonage broadband and they put us on hold,” Velthamp told KSTP-TV in Minneapolis.
Unbelievable
your house is burning down, and you’re put on hold by Vonage.

Really, what else can we say here? If you’re touting yourself as a viable VoIP alternative to traditional telephone services, your first responsibility is to make sure that the calls of people who are being murdered, raped, attacked or endangered get through to emergency services. But when Vonage isn’t putting people whose homes are on fire on hold, they’re routing 911 calls to emergency services administrative offices.

This is a good demonstration of why people still need a regular phone.

Vonage 911 Caller Put On Hold While House Burns Down [Consumer Affairs]

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