Archive: Exit Archive

Voice over IP (VOIP)

Online Service Document

(formerly MCI ADVANTAGE SERVICE)

 

Two versions of VoIP:

 

1.         VOIP A LA CARTE, BUNDLED (AKA CLASSIC BUNDLED) AND SERVICE BUNDLED (not VoIP Integrated Access, Hosted IP Centrex or IP Trunking), also referred to in the Guide as “Voice over IP – Original”, the following applies:

Voice over IP - Original

2.         VoIP IP Integrated Access, Hosted IP Centrex and IP Trunking, also referred to in the Guide as “Voice over IP Service – Version 2006”, the following applies:

Voice over IP – Version 2008

Voice over IP – Version 2008

 

I.          SERVICE DESCRIPTION: VOIP is a portfolio of VOIP that allows Customer to transport voice and data traffic originating in the United States via Internet Protocol (IP) packets over eligible domestic transport options. The following VoIP Service Types are available:

           

1.         Service Types. IP Integrated Access, IP Trunking, Hosted IP Centrex.

2.         Pricing Plans. Two pricing plans are A LA CARTE and BUNDLED.

2.1       A LA CARTE Pricing Plan. Under the A LA CARTE Pricing Plan, calls may originate over Customer’s domestic transport service: (a) Internet Dedicated Services Tiered Service at 768 kbps, Price-Protected Service at T1 and T3, and Double/Diverse Service at T3, and (b) Private IP Service at 384 kbps and above; and may terminate over Customer’s domestic Internet Dedicated Services, Private IP Service, or through the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). Customer must subscribe to the selected transport service for A LA CARTE Pricing Plan under a separate service attachment, and also must obtain required CPE under a separate service attachment. A LA CARTE pricing is available for all VoIP Service types.

2.2       BUNDLED Pricing Plan. BUNDLED Pricing is based on the bundled transport service, router option (standard or upgraded, as applicable), Ethernet switch option (standard or upgraded, as applicable) and the simultaneous calling capacity available with the HIPC VoIP Service type and selected by Customer. In addition, with HIPC, Customer may order optional Bundled Internet Dedicated Shadow T1 Service (available only if Internet Dedicated Service and the upgraded router option is selected for the primary transport service) to back up Customer’s primary bundled transport service. When in use, BUNDLED Internet Dedicated Shadow T1 Service uses the VoIP Service Equipment included with Customer’s primary BUNDLED Internet Dedicated Service. A monthly recurring base charge applies to each bundle at each Customer location and includes the selected bundled transport service, the applicable VoIP Service Equipment, and unlimited outbound U.S. long distance and local calling (subject to the simultaneous calling capacity selected). Each HIPC bundle is limited to a simultaneous calling capacity that is based on the transport capacity (up to a maximum of 41 simultaneous calls on a 1.5 Mbps T1). VoIP BUNDLED Pricing is not available for Customer facilities located in the following states: Kentucky, Maine, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

2.2.1    VoIP Service Equipment. “VoIP Service Equipment” is defined as equipment, including but not limited to, routers, converters and Ethernet switches, which equipment is a part or component of VoIP and furnished by the Company.

 

3.         Premium Support Services. Company offers two types of post-implementation, supplemental Premium Support Services for VoIP Services – Feature Management and CPE/LAN support, plus a Service continuity option called Alternative Re-routing.  All requests for Premium Service must be submitted through a Customer-designated administrator.

 

4.         Verizon’s Alternate Route Recovery Service (“VARRS”).  VARRS provides a business continuity option for VoIP IP Trunking and VoIP IP Integrated Access in which Company provisions mirrored capacity in secondary geographically-diverse Session Border Controller (SBC) High Availability (HA) Pairs serving Customer’s enterprise. This feature will permit Customer to route inbound and outbound traffic through a redundantly-provisioned backup Company SBC HA Pair in the event of an outage on the primary Company SBC HA Pair, or an outage affecting Customer’s facilities or equipment that necessitates secondary routing.

 

5.         Geographic Coverage. VoIP Service is provided only to Customer locations within the U.S. Mainland and Hawaii. VoIP Service is not available in Alaska and may not be available in other states or regions. Availability of underlying transport may vary based on Customer’s location(s).

 

6.         Auto Dialer Restriction. Customer may not utilize auto-dialers or any similar type of device in connection with VoIP service.

 

II.         DEFINITIONS: In addition to the Online Definitions, the following definitions apply:

 

"Intra-enterprise Calls" are calls that both originate and terminate on Customer’s eligible VoIP-enabled ports or circuits.

"Inter-enterprise Calls" are calls that either originate or terminate outside Customer’s eligible VoIP-enabled ports or circuits.

"Location" is a building, or multiple buildings on a campus, with a single VoIP connection.

 

“MCI Legacy Company”

 

III.        FEATURES AND OTHER OPTIONS:

 

1.         Call Type Options.

 

1.1       On-Net Calls.

1.2       Outbound Off-Net U.S. Long Distance Calls.

1.3       Outbound Off-Net Local Calls.

1.4       Inbound PSTN Calls.

1.5       VoIP IP Enterprise Routing (“VIPER”).

1.6       International Calls.

1.7       Fax.

 

2.         Features. VoIP offers the following features for an additional charge (additional features may be available at Company’s discretion):

 

2.1       Enhanced Voice-mail.

2.2       Remote Office.

2.3       Attendant Console.

2.4       Auto Attendant.

2.5       Accounting/Authorization Codes.

2.6       Feature Profiles.

2.7       Optional Network Features – IASA Platform.

2.8       Feature Packages and Optional Network Features – ICP Platform.

 

2.8.1    Terms and Conditions for ICP Platform.

 

A.         Company expressly disclaims all responsibility and liability for outages and any other problems arising from non-Company-provided Internet access when ICP is accessed by end-users remotely, i.e., away from Customer’s primary service address.

 

B.         Company will not conduct any maintenance of any equipment (whether or not supplied by Company) nor bear any responsibility for trouble-shooting at any end-user site that is not Customer’s primary service address.

 

C.        Trouble tickets involving network feature packages or remote users will be routed through Customer’s designated Administrator, who will be provided a checklist of the minimum tasks to be completed prior to calling in a trouble ticket. All such trouble-ticket calls will be handled on a commercially reasonable basis. Company will not dispatch to any end-user location remote from Customer’s primary service address.

 

2.9       Unscreened ANI (available with VoIP IP Integrated Access and VoIP IP Trunking).

 

3.         Local Service Features. VoIP including Local service is supported by the following:

 

3.1       Caller Name Display.

3.2       Operator Services.

3.3       Directory Assistance.

3.4       Directory Listings.

 

3.4.1    Directory Listings - Terms and Conditions.

 

A.         The Company reserves the right to limit the length of any listing in the directory by the use of the abbreviations when, in its judgment, the clearness of the listing or the identification of Customer is not impaired thereby. Where more than one line is required to properly list Customer, no additional charge is made.

 

B.         The Company may refuse a listing which is known not to constitute a legally authorized or adopted name, obscenities in the name, or any listing which, in the opinion of the Company, is likely to mislead or deceive calling persons as to the identity of the listed party, or is a contrived name used for advertising purposes or to secure a preferential position in the directory or is more elaborate than is reasonably necessary to identify the listed party.

 

C.        Each listing must be designated Government or Business to be placed in the appropriate section of the directory. In order to aid the user of the directory, and to avoid misleading or deceiving the calling party as to the identity of the listed party, only business listings may be placed in the Business Section and only residential listings in the Residential section.

 

D.        The Company, upon notification to Customer, will withdraw any listing, which is found to be in violation of its rules with respect thereto.

 

E.         In order for the listings to appear in an upcoming directory, Customer must furnish the listing to the Company in time to meet the directory publishing schedule.

 

3.5       Local Number Portability (LNP).

3.6       Service Area Codes (SACs).

3.7       900/976 Blocking. 900 and 976 numbers will be blocked.

 

4.         Burstable Enterprise Shared Trunks.

5.         Compression.

 

6.         Call Management.

 

7.         Post-Implementation Trouble Management. Upon completion of VoIP implementation, Customer will be fully responsible for any maintenance and management of Customer’s network. Customer may enter into separate service attachments with the Company for such services. Should Customer require Company assistance in post-implementation trouble management, the Company is limited to assisting with the following activities, pursuant to Customer’s Agreement, as supplemented by the respective section(s) of this Guide.

 

8.         Virtual Server. If Customer utilizes Company's Private IP network to transport its VoIP Service, Company will appear as a virtual location (IP Address) on Customer's virtual private network. This virtual location will be accessible to Company only by Company personnel authorized to perform required installation, maintenance and support tasks for VoIP Service.

 

IV.        RATES AND CHARGES: The following rates and charges apply:

 

Rates and charges

 

V.         TERMS AND CONDITIONS: In addition to the Online Master Terms - Terms and Conditions of Service, the following terms and conditions apply: 

 

1.         Maintenance Interruptions. Company may interrupt Customer’s BUNDLED Internet Dedicated Services VoIP transport for scheduled or emergency maintenance or as otherwise set forth in the Agreement.

 

2.         Hosted IP Centrex Service Restrictions. Customer understands that use of HIPC VoIP Service with the unlimited local and LD pricing option is restricted in the following manner:

 

·        Customer may not utilize VoIP Service in any call center environment or in connection with any similar application.

·        Customer may not use VoIP Service for telemarketing, fax broadcasting, fax blasting, or continuous or extensive call forwarding.

·        Customer may not aggregate traffic from multiple sites into a single site configured with HIPC VoIP Service.

·        Customer’s design may not be configured with more than 8:1 oversubscription, i.e., no more than eight DIDs per simultaneous call.

·        Customer may not utilize auto-dialers or any similar type of device in connection with VoIP service.

 

3.         Burstable Enterprise Shared Trunks – Terms and Conditions.

 

3.1       When all VoIP traffic is aggregated at Customer’s hub location, Customer will only be able to make as many simultaneous calls across its enterprise as is supported via the data access at such hub location.

 

3.2       Customer is solely responsible for purchasing sufficient simultaneous calls across its enterprise to support traffic for its hub and remote locations. Customer acknowledges and understands that purchasing, say, 800 simultaneous calls across its enterprise to serve, say, 800 sites, may diminish the end-user experience, resulting in such occurrences as busy lines.

 

3.3       Metered simultaneous call capacity is only available with the A LA CARTE pricing plan. If Customer purchases VoIP Service with metered simultaneous calling capacity, all locations receiving VoIP Service within Customer’s enterprise must be metered. Only metered locations within Customer’s enterprise will be able to burst using available simultaneous call capacity from other Customer metered simultaneous call sites.

 

3.4       BEST does not allow for the sharing of simultaneous calling capacity between Customer locations receiving Local and LD VoIP Service and Customer locations receiving only LD service. 

 

3.5       Burstable enterprise shared trunks will not be supported at non-metered sites.

 

3.6       Burstable enterprise shared trunks are only available to U.S. sites and only the simultaneous call units at U.S. sites contribute to the total available concurrent call capacity.

 

3.7       The maximum bursting capacity of each IP Integrated Access location is based on two factors – the maximum number of calls that can be supported within the location’s data bandwidth and the total number of simultaneous calling units purchased by Customer across its enterprise – and is subject in any case to a maximum of fifty (50) simultaneous calls in addition to what is provisioned at any single location. Two examples are provided:

 

§  If Customer’s Location A buys 20 simultaneous calling units on a T1 and Customer’s Location B buys 40 simultaneous calls on a DS3, assuming availability, Location A could burst through its allocation of 20 simultaneous calling units up to a maximum of 41 simultaneous calling units because that’s the maximum simultaneous calls supportable on a T1.

 

§  If Customer’s Location C buys 60 simultaneous calling units on a DS3 and Customer’s Location D also buys 60 simultaneous calling units on a DS3, assuming availability, Location C could burst through its allocation of 60 simultaneous calling units up to a maximum of 110 simultaneous calling units because any single location is limited to bursting to an additional 50 simultaneous calling units.

 

3.8       Customer must inform Company of its data bandwidth at each location so that Company can properly configure the maximum simultaneous call setting based on Customer’s bandwidth.

 

3.9       If Customer changes its data bandwidth and desires more simultaneous calls to be supported at a particular location, it must process a change order with Company to increase the number of available simultaneous calling units.

 

3.10     Every remote site will receive an allocation of at least one metered simultaneous call to be able to participate in the sharing.

 

3.11     Company Technical Support will be able to identify call failures or blockage if Customer exceeds its aggregate (enterprise-level) simultaneous calling capacity. However, Company is not responsible for and cannot provide specific details identifying which Customer location is causing the threshold to be exceeded at the time it occurs. Customer is responsible for monitoring location-level traffic requirements to identify sites which require additional simultaneous call capacity to meet traffic requirements.

 

4.         Service Availability/Disclaimer for VoIP under the BUNDLED Pricing Plan.

 

4.1       Service Availability. Customer’s eligibility for VoIP is contingent upon receiving satisfactory results of a site survey conducted by the Company. In addition, to receive VoIP, Customer’s Local Area Network (LAN) environment must be 10 to 100 MB switched Ethernet; LAN ports used for voice must be set to full-duplex; Customer’s LAN and/or Wide Area Network (WAN) must have adequate bandwidth, ports and access circuits, to support the minimum amount of concurrent voice and data traffic ordered by Customer; measurements of Customer’s WAN must indicate that the latency between calling sites does not exceed the maximum Company requirements; and Customer’s voice traffic must be given priority over Customer’s data traffic. Any SIP phone, firewall and/or gateway used by Customer must be certified for use with VoIP as determined by the Company.

 

4.2       Disclaimers.

 

4.2.1    VoIP relies on Customer’s Domain Name Server (DNS Server) and will not be available if Customer’s DNS Server fails. Customer is responsible for maintaining the quality and condition of its LAN, and thus, the Company is not responsible for poor quality or outages of VoIP that result from the quality or condition of Customer’s LAN. The Company reserves the right to reject any order for VoIP for any reason, including without limitation the inability or impracticality of providing such VoIP in a particular geographic area in which the Company does not have sufficient presence, capacity, corporate infrastructure or network technical infrastructure to effectively support the requested VoIP.

 

4.2.2    In addition to satisfying the general VoIP availability conditions set forth above, the BUNDLED Pricing Plan is subject to the following availability conditions: Customer’s site must be in a geographical area in the United States where the BUNDLED Pricing Plan is available; all conditions associated with the applicable Internet Dedicated Services must be satisfied.

 

4.2.3    In addition to those general disclaimers set forth above Customer understands that use of VoIP under the BUNDLED Pricing Plan is restricted in the following manner: (i) At any given time, Customer may only place as many concurrent calls as it has purchased simultaneous calling capacity; and (ii) Customer may not modify the Company-installed design and/or configuration without the previous written consent of the Company. Company may immediately suspend Customer’s use of VoIP Service if Customer violates the foregoing restriction in (ii).

 

4.2.4    The Company will install VoIP ordered with the BUNDLED Pricing Plan from the point of the LEC’s smart-jack to Customer’s premises.

 

5.         VoIP Service Equipment

 

5.1       Provision of VoIP Service Equipment. Customer understands that the Company may be situating certain VoIP Service Equipment on Customer’s premises, which equipment is a part or component of VoIP and is furnished by the Company. Title to VoIP Service Equipment will never pass to Customer. Customer shall (a) maintain VoIP Service Equipment and any associated software, systems, cabling and facilities in accordance with the reasonable instructions of the Company as may be given from time to time; (b) not modify, relocate, or in any way interfere with VoIP Service Equipment unless expressly authorized by a representative of the Company to do so; and (c) not cause VoIP Service Equipment to be repaired, serviced, or otherwise accessed except by an authorized representative of the Company. In addition, Customer shall furnish such electrical power in the form of a 120V outlet, including backup power, and such other amenities as are required in order to accommodate the service and in order for VoIP Service Equipment to function as intended. Customer, upon reasonable request or notice, shall also allow the Company representatives to enter onto Customer premises or locations at which service is being provided in order to repair or maintain the service, including VoIP Service Equipment, or in order to remove VoIP Service Equipment. Failure of Customer to permit such entry will discharge the Company from its service obligation. Upon termination of Service or expiration of any Company Agreement, Customer will return VoIP Service Equipment to the Company at the Company’s expense in a manner determined by the Company.

 

5.2       Maintenance of VoIP Service Equipment.

 

5.3       Return of VoIP Service Equipment. Within 10 days of (a) expiration or termination of a Customer’s VoIP Service Equipment rental period (including any automatic extension thereof) or (b), if later, the expiration or cancellation of the term of service of a circuit associated with both the VoIP Service Equipment and Company-provided interexchange service, the Customer shall return the VoIP Service Equipment to the Company at the Company’s expense in good condition and repair, with Company-determined reasonable and proper depreciation excepted, addressed with a Company-provided shipping label. The Customer shall properly pack the VoIP Service Equipment for return to the Company in accordance with standard commercial practices and the Company’s requirements.

 

Customer is liable for loss or damage to VoIP Service Equipment by any cause, including, but not limited to, theft, mysterious disappearance, and fire. If a Customer fails to return VoIP Service Equipment, or any portion thereof, as set forth in this section, Return Charges will apply.

 

6.         Customer Obligations.

 

In addition to the other obligations of Customer contained within Customer’s Agreement, as supplemented by this Guide, Customer will be responsible for the following obligations:

 

6.1       Customer-Obtained Facilities. Except as otherwise expressly stated herein, Customer is responsible for obtaining, installing, configuring and maintaining all equipment (including, but not limited to, SIP Phones, firewalls and Cisco gateways), software, wiring, power sources, telephone connections and/or communications services necessary for inter-connection with the Company’s network or otherwise for use in conjunction with VoIP (Facilities). Customer is responsible for ensuring that such Facilities are compatible with the Company’s requirements and that they continue to be compatible with subsequent revision levels of Company-provided equipment, software and services. The Company is not responsible for the availability, capacity and/or condition of any Facilities not provided by the Company. Customer is responsible for operation and configuration of its computer(s) and LAN/WAN. If Customer connects any Facilities to VoIP that Customer reasonably should know may not be compatible with VoIP, Customer is solely responsible for any effects that arise from that connection on VoIP, equipment, or software of Company, Customer, or any third party, and Customer waives any claims against Company relating to the performance of VoIP. Customer may obtain equipment necessary for use of VoIP from the Company under the terms of a separate service attachment.

 

6.2       Security. Use of VoIP, like other network-based services, carries certain security risks to the systems and networks of Customer, Company and third parties including, but not limited to: misuse; unauthorized access; alterations; theft; destruction; corruption; and attacks (“Occurrences”). Customer shall, at its own expense, take security measures including but not limited to use of firewalls, passwords, access restrictions, encryption, policies, and physical access restrictions (Security Measures) to protect from Occurrences all VoIP traffic, Facilities and other equipment, software, data and systems located on Customer’s premises or otherwise in Customer’s control and used in connection with VoIP, whether owned by Customer, the Company, or the Company’s subcontractors.

 

Customer agrees that Company is not liable, in contract, tort, or on any other basis, for any loss resulting from any occurrences or use of such VoIP traffic, Facilities or other equipment, software, data and systems. Customer is responsible for all security measures, even if Customer uses a third party or Company to configure and implement them.

 

6.3       Customer Sites. Customer agrees to provide the Company and its subcontractors and their respective employees and agents access to Customer's sites where any Service is provided (including access to associated equipment) as necessary for the Company and its subcontractors to provide VoIP.

 

6.4       Customer must provide the Company and/or its subcontractor(s) with any and all information, which is necessary to provide VoIP.

 

6.5       Customer shall allow, authorize and cooperate with the Company and/or its subcontractor(s) to perform the following, whether or not on Customer’s premises, (i) a site survey and network analysis to determine whether Customer’s network and facilities will support the provision of VoIP, (ii) pre-service testing, on local service facilities, including, but not limited to, verification of features, functions, and services ordered by Customer, and (iii) any other testing involving the provision of VoIP, including, but not limited to, post-installation testing.

 

7.         Service Disclaimer. Company is not responsible for certain conditions or equipment that may affect VoIP Service, including, without limitation:

 

·        Failure or poor performance of Customer’s Domain Name Server (“DNS Server”) and/or local area network ("LAN") upon which VoIP Service relies. Network-related outages also may occur, and service restoration intervals may vary from those associated with traditional telecommunications service.

·        Communications from analog modems may have protocol interaction issues when used over VoIP technology (due to their handshake and error-checking rules) and cannot be assured of the same quality as other communications;

·        VoIP Service is provided without any warranty whatsoever with respect to modems. Modems may not be used on VoIP Service except with Codec G.711 without silence suppression.

·        Fax transmission is highly dependent on Customer’s facsimile device, its ability to disable error correction, and other factors. Therefore, VoIP Service is provided without any warranty whatsoever with respect to fax transmission success.

·        Alarm lines (whether or not they use modems) are wholly unsupported on VoIP Service (with respect to both service and wiring, without limitation).

·        Customer will be responsible for all inside wiring and special construction charges.

 

8.         Geographic Coverage. VoIP Service is provided only to Customer locations within the U.S. Mainland and Hawaii. If Customer desires on its own to extend IP-based calls originating with VoIP Service beyond the U.S. Mainland demarcation for VoIP Service, Customer expressly acknowledges that it is solely responsible for such extension and the legal and regulatory ramifications of extending such calls into foreign jurisdictions.

 

9.         Call Origination Information. Customer acknowledges that Company classifies local and long distance calls to determine appropriate rate allocation (i.e., local or interstate). Company bases this classification on the information in Company’s systems identifying each call’s originating location. As accurate information regarding the origination point of calls is necessary to make the appropriate rate allocation, it is a material condition of VoIP Service that Customer provide Company with accurate information reflecting its calls’ originating location. Customer shall defend, indemnify and hold Company harmless with respect to any third-party claims arising out of Customer's delivery of call origination information to Company or to such third parties.

 

10.       Acceptable Use. Use of the Company network, VoIP Service Equipment, or VoIP must comply with the then-current version of the Company Acceptable Use Policy (Policy) at http://www.verizonenterprise.com/terms of the countries from which Customer uses VoIP (and in the event no Policy exists for a country, the U.S. Policy shall apply). The applicable Policy shall be available or other URL designated by the Company. Customer is responsible that each of its end-users of VoIP adheres to the Policy. The Company reserves the right to change the Policy from time to time, effective upon posting of the revised Policy at the URL or other notice to Customer. The Company reserves the right to suspend or terminate VoIP effective upon notice for a violation of the Policy.

 

11.       Use of Facilities and Equipment. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, the Company’s obligation is to furnish VoIP consisting of facilities and equipment that are exclusively of the Company’s choosing. The Company may substitute facilities or equipment used to furnish VoIP, substitute comparable service, or discontinue VoIP, at any time.

 

12.       ICP Access to CPNI. The use by end-users of ICP may also enable such end-users to access Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI). As a condition of such access, Customer agrees:

 

·        to the Agreement to Protect CPNI to which it will subscribe or has separately subscribed;

 

·        that only Customer’s CPNI Administrator can authorize end-users of VoIP Hosted IP Centrex Service to use ICP, and that such authorization authenticates that such end-users are, in fact, so authorized by Customer; and

 

·        to cooperate with Company’s reasonable authentication and security procedures for access to CPNI, including, without limitation, password resets and re-authentication of authorized end-users.

 

13.       ICP Software. By its use of the Company’s VoIP Service, and in particular, its end-users’ use of an ICP feature package, Customer acknowledges and agrees that it is subscribing to the Software and Documentation provision in the Guide’s General Terms and Conditions for Internet, Enhanced and Other Non-Telecommunications Products and Services governing such use.

 

14.       E-911 – Emergency Calling

 

14.1     Requirement. A provider of “interconnected VoIP service” is required by the Federal Communications Commission to route emergency 911 calls in conjunction with such VoIP service where such 911 calling is available. “Interconnected VoIP service” means the VoIP service (1) enables real-time, two-way voice communications; (2) requires a broadband connection from the end-user’s location; (3) requires IP-compatible CPE; and (4) permits end-users generally to receive calls that originate on the PSTN and to terminate calls to the PSTN. 911 emergency calling service laws may also apply to Customer and it is solely Customer’s responsibility to understand and comply with such laws.

 

14.2     E-911 Routing. Enhanced 911 calling (“E-911”) enables end-users to access an appropriate public safety answering point (“PSAP”) by dialing 911 with Automatic Number Identification (“ANI”) and Automatic Location Identification (“ALI”) displayed at the PSAP. The ANI may be the calling party number (“CPN”) or the billing telephone number (“BTN”) depending on Customer’s configuration. Pursuant to FCC requirements, the Company enables the routing of E-911 calls only in locations where such 911 calling is available and only in the limited circumstances described below. An end-user’s ability to access an appropriate PSAP depends on the type, configuration and location of the phone used. Furthermore, much like access to 911 emergency service via traditional PSTN local service, access to a PSAP will be unavailable if Customer’s access circuit or local gateway fails.

 

14.2.1  ANI/ALI. E-911 provided via any of the four types of the Company’s VoIP Service will pass ANI and the registered primary service address of that ANI as ALI. If VoIP Service is provided to a campus environment where all buildings have the same service address and rate center, then Customer acknowledges and agrees that when 911 is dialed, the call will be routed to the appropriate PSAP based on the primary service address of the calling ANI.

 

14.2.2  Long Distance Service/Limitations on E-911. Long Distance Voice Service does not provide access to E-911 calling. Thus, to obtain E-911 access and support, Customer must purchase separate Local service when only Long Distance Voice Service is ordered from Company (an option with IP Integrated Access, Hosted IP Centrex, and IP Trunking).  If Customer purchases VoIP service for a geographically-distributed multi-site environment and has remote locations outside the Local service footprint covered by VoIP Service, or Customer chooses not to purchase Local service with its VoIP Service at certain remote locations, Customer agrees that it is responsible for obtaining separate Local service at each such location to the extent it desires or is required to provide E-911.

 

14.2.3  PS/ALI. If Customer requires delivery of location-specific ALI (such as floor and room number within a building) to the PSAP, or otherwise desires E-911 to be provided for multiple user configurations, Customer must implement Private Switch/Automatic Location Identification (PS/ALI). Customer may obtain the software and support that enable PS/ALI from a third-party provider or Company pursuant to a separate contract. In all cases, VoIP Service can only support the delivery of the caller’s station level phone number to a PSAP when such telephone numbers are ported to the Company during the initial provisioning process or are numbers assigned by the Company.  Before the Company will support Customer’s use of PS/ALI, Customer must execute the Company’s letter of authorization. Once PS/ALI is implemented, the Company will continue to send 911 calls to the PSAP; however, Customer and not the Company will be entirely responsible for the content of the information delivered in ALI to the PSAP and for any liability arising from the provision of, or the failure to provide, accurate and up-to-date information.

 

State or local laws may require Customer to implement PS/ALI to ensure required E-911 support for multiple user configurations to enable station-specific 911 ANI and ALI display.

 

14.2.4  Other Access Limitations. Common events that can limit access to E-911 via VoIP Service include but are not limited to:

 

·        Loss of Electric Service. A loss of electric service will interrupt VoIP Service. Customers are urged to implement a battery backup system for VoIP Service.

·        Loss of Broadband Service. VoIP Service will be interrupted if the attendant broadband connection is not available.

·        Failure of Equipment. The malfunction or failure of equipment, software or hardware necessary for end-to-end Internet functionality (e.g., routers, IP phones, analog gateways, etc.) can limit access to E-911.

·        Failure to Register New Location of Equipment. For IP Integrated Access and IP Trunking VoIP services, the Company is able to provide access to E-911 only at the end-user’s registered primary service location. For these VoIP service types, if a VoIP phone is used at a location other than at the end-user’s registered primary service location, E-911 will not be available. For Hosted IP Centrex service, mobility is supported for the end-user’s IP phone or soft-phone (phone in the PC), but the end-user may only place calls from a location that is, in fact, the end-user’s registered address. Otherwise, E-911 calls will not be sent to the correct PSAP. If the end-user’s registered address is at a location different from the end-user’s “office phone” (the dedicated hand-set that remains at the end-user’s registered primary service location), use of the end-user’s land-line for 911 calls will not contact the correct PSAP. Customer must inform end-users that it is entirely their responsibility to use the tools available with VoIP Service to update their registered address.

·        Non-Recognition of Phone Number. If an end-user uses a non-native telephone number (i.e., a telephone number from a local exchange area different from where the caller is located), E-911 access may be limited.

 

14.2.5  End-User Notice Requirements. Customer represents and warrants that it will notify all of its end-users of the Company’s VoIP service of the interaction and/or limitations of E-911 with the Company’s VoIP service as set forth herein, and with respect to Hosted IP Centrex end-users, (i) what procedures such end-users must follow for registering a new location prior to moving an IP phone or soft-phone; and (ii) of the affects of re-registration of end-user addresses on existing end-user office phones and E-911. Customer shall be solely responsible for any third-party claims and liability arising from Customer’s failure to so notify its end-users.

 

14.3     E-911 and VoIP IP Trunking Service. Because Customer’s IP Trunking may permit end-users to use VoIP Service at other than Customer’s or the end-users’ primary service location, and Company may not detect when an end-user uses the service at a non-primary service location, Customer warrants it will, with respect to IP Trunking:

 

·        detect when an end-user has moved his or her VoIP phone (i.e., any device used for VoIP calling) to a non-primary service location, and suspend VoIP Service unless and until either Customer (a) verifies that the end-user is at the location for which the VoIP phone is registered for service or (b) re-registers the VoIP phone for service (“nomadic service”) at the end-user’s current location: 

·        only permit nomadic service when E-911 calls made via the nomadic service include the information needed to route that call to the PSAP serving that location in the manner required by the FCC’s E-911 requirements for Interconnected VoIP service; and

·        otherwise block all VoIP calls attempted to be made via the nomadic service.

 

Customer shall be solely responsible for all third-party claims and liability arising from Customer’s failure to do as required in this Section 3.

 

14.4     E-911 and Hosted IP Centrex Service.

 

14.4.1  PSAP Routing. If an IP phone or soft-phone used with VoIP Hosted IP Centrex Service is moved to a new location, Customer or its end-user must report the change of location. If Customer or its end-user fails to report such a change of location or moves an IP phone or soft-phone outside the Company’s E-911 service area, VoIP Service may be suspended until Customer informs the Company of the change or moves the IP phone or soft-phone back within the Company’s E-911 service area.

 

14.4.2  Change in Registered Location. Customer’s end-users who want to use a VoIP Service-enabled IP phone or soft-phone other than at its current registered location can register their phone at their temporary location by utilizing the ICP application and client which can be downloaded to the end-user desktop.

 

Turning the power to a phone off and then back on, or unplugging it and then plugging it back in may indicate to the Company, via a change in IP address, that the phone may have been moved. The Company may, but is not obligated to, monitor the IP phone’s IP address.

 

14.4.3  Effect of Change in Registered Location. Customer’s end-users who use a phone at a Customer facility for which VoIP Service has been enabled, but for which the ANI has been registered at another location, will still be able to place outbound 911 calls; however, such calls will be directed to the correct PSAP for the ANI, not necessarily for the PSAP serving the Customer facility at which the phone is located.

 

14.5     Provider Parity.  For purposes of 47 U.S.C. 615a – commonly referred to as the “NET 911 Improvement Act” – and with respect to the provision of Company’s VoIP Service, Company is an IP-enabled voice service provider.

 

VI.        SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT: Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for VoIP are set forth at http://www.verizonenterprise.com/terms. Company reserves the right to amend these SLAs from time to time, effective upon either posting of the revised SLA to that URL or providing other notice to Customer. These SLAs set forth Customer’s sole remedies for any claim relating to VoIP (including the related Internet Dedicated Services and Private IP Service), including any failure to meet the conditions set forth in these SLAs. Company’s records and data are the basis for all SLA calculations and determinations. Under these SLAs, the maximum amount of credit available to Customer in any calendar month shall not exceed the following: (a) for the A LA CARTE Pricing Plan, either the applicable monthly site fee or monthly simultaneous calling charge plus the applicable monthly recurring fee for the related Internet Dedicated or Private IP service under the related Company service attachment or (b) for the BUNDLED Pricing Plan the monthly recurring base charge and simultaneous calling charge that, absent the credit, would have been charged for VoIP with the BUNDLED Pricing Plan, during such month.