➡T CRIMINAL JUSTICE SOLUTIONS 

IN 

FEB. 06 

U.S. Department of Justice 

Office of Justice Programs 

National Institute of Justice 

OWARD 

SHORT 

www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij 

NCJ 212976 

Telephony Implications of Voice over 

Internet Protocol 

■ ■ www.ojp.usdoj.gov 

■ 

tally through a network using Internet 

■ 

public safety radio systems. 

VOIP MARKET TREND 

ice that uses the Internet, cable television network 

infrastructure, or other nonincumbent IP infrastrucavailable for download and use via the Internet. 

online network capacity to facilitate free Internetnetwork access is available. 

PUBLIC SAFETY CONCERNS 

to location, and therefore traditional caller location 

■ 

services at public safety answering points as 

well as methods for telephone intercepts and 

Office of Justice Programs Partnerships for Safer Communities 

Key Points 

Voice over Internet Protocol technology allows 

voice communications to be transported digiProtocol (IP) standards. 

Commercial IP-based telephony services are 

quickly proliferating as an alternative to traditional wire-line consumer telephony services. 

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communications 

refers to all types of conversational voice information including landline voice (telephony) or voice 

from a land mobile radio system. VoIP-based telephony is one of the fastest growing telecom technology sectors. Two VoIP categories are particularly 

relevant to public safety: VoIP telephony on public 

telephone networks and VoIP technology within 

Many businesses and commercial telephony service 

providers are migrating to IP-based infrastructure, 

taking advantage of cost savings and efficiencies 

inherent in an IP transport network. In addition, 

nontraditional service providers are emerging to 

compete with incumbent providers by selling servture to provide access to core transport network 

facilities. In fact, many IP telephony services never 

touch the traditional telephone network. 

Many free, or nearly free, personal computer/ 

PDA-based VoIP telephony applications are readily 

Application developers take advantage of abundant 

only voice calls with optional access to the publicswitched telephone network for a modest fee. 

Devices with VoIP software can communicate 

nomadically, functioning at any location where 

Identifying 911 Emergency Calls. Potential public 

safety concerns related to VoIP-based telephony 

technology include its inability to provide traditional 

location identification (Enhanced 911, or E911) 

services for 911 emergency calls placed to a public 

safety answering point (PSAP). IP-based telephony 

equipment is not tied to a specific location like wireline based plain old telephony service (POTS). An 

IP-based telephone can be transported from location 

Traditional techniques for emergency location 

electronic surveillance (wiretaps) are ineffective or are not functional with IP-based 

telephony. 
services are not available to the emergency call 

taker, creating PSAP procedural issues. 

Meeting FCC Requirements. Recent rulings by the 

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)1 mandate that commercial VoIP service providers must 

provide E911 services correct PSAP, but the development, implementation, and processes associated 

with these technologies are very immature. Incorrectly configured consumer IP devices, or 

devices that are moved after a location has been 

pinpointed, can provide false location information 

to an emergency call taker. A portable IP-based 

telephony device operating through one or more 

public wireless WiFi access points will not even 

provide the limited details that are conveyed via 

a typical cellular telephone device. 

Conducting Surveillance. The FCC ruling also 

requires that a notice be attached to commercial 

VoIP devices that do not connect to a 911 operator. 

An area of lesser concern is taxation and E911 

assessment fees. As service users drop traditional 

services and migrate to unregulated VoIP networks, 

disposition of E911 fees and taxes associated with 

the traditional telephone service is not well defined, 

and rules differ from State to State. 

Another public safety concern is that traditional 

voice intercept and electronic surveillance techniques are disrupted. New techniques, tools, and 

infrastructure access methods are required to facilitate surveillance of IP-based telephony services. 

The nature of IP-based network transport makes 

the paths of IP packets through the network unpredictable and more difficult to intercept. Very often 

IP addresses associated with a specific IP-based 

telephony device will change regularly, making it 

difficult or nearly impossible to target a single 

device or user. Strong end-to-end encryption 

between IP devices can also be implemented at 

minimal cost, further compounding the surveillance 

efforts of law enforcement agencies. 

CONCLUSION 

Public safety officials and emergency call takers 

must be aware of these issues, and until pending 

regulations are fully implemented and the associated technology is available, officials must address 

them through education and the use of best practices. The National Emergency Number Association2 

and the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials3 are spearheading an effort to identify and address regulatory issues associated with 

VoIP telephony technology and emergency location 

services with the FCC. In addition, the Federal 

Bureau of Investigation, through its CALEA4 

Implementation Unit, has established a law enforcement executive forum to address intercept and surveillance issues associated with VoIP telephony. 

FOR MORE INFORMATION 

■	 NIJ CommTech Web site: 

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/topics/commtech/. 

■	 Regional National Law Enforcement and 

Corrections Technology Centers: 

Northeast (Rome, NY) 888–338–0584 

Southeast (Charleston, SC) 800–292–4385 

Rocky Mountain (Denver, CO) 800–416–8086 

Western (El Segundo, CA) 888–548–1618 

Northwest (Anchorage, AK) 866–569–2969 


Rural Law Enforcement Technology Center


866–787–2553


NOTES 

1. FCC Order 05–116 can be found at http:// 

hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/ 

FCC-05-116A1.pdf. 

2. Additional information can be found at 

http://www.nena.org/About_Contact/index.htm. 

3. Additional information can be found at 

http://www.apcointl.org. 

4. Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement 

Act: Additional information can be found at 

http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/ 

usamay2001_4.htm. 

*NCJ~212976*


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a consensus of the authors and do not represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. The products and 

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