http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070702-voip-must-support-disabled-users-pay-fees.htmlBy Nate Anderson Published: July 02, 2007 - 09:55AM CTAs VoIP services have gone mainstream, the FCC has increasingly regulated them like traditional phone service, and the Commission recently took this policy one step further by requiring VoIP operators and equipment manufacturers to support disability access requirements like the 711 dialing service.Related Stories* FCC forces rural phone companies to carry VoIP trafficThe ruling is the result of a process begun back in March of 2004, when the FCC looked at the matter of disability access requirements as they applied to IP-enabled services. The Commission's ruling now means that VoIP operators like Vonage and equipment manufacturers like Linksys need to make sure that their gear, their services, and even their documentation are accessible to the disabled, so long as the necessary fixes are "readily achievable."This means two things. First, VoIP operators will need to begin contributing to the Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) Fund, money which is collected from all telephone companies and used to help disabled people make calls more easily. Those who are hard of hearing or speech-impaired can use a TRS-funded operator to call others through the phone network using keyboards (the operator then reads this message out to the other party and relays responses into text). The service can be accessed anywhere in the US by dialing 711, and the FCC order also requires VoIP providers to support this 711 functionality.In a statement after the ruling, Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein said that applying the rules to VoIP services now "will help ensure that accessibility issues are considered early in the development process, which should lessen the need to retrofit regulatory and technical protections after the fact."The FCC has gradually forced VoIP operators to behave like traditional phone companies, ordering them to support E911 services, CALEA access for law enforcement, and now to help fund and interconnect with services for the disabled. As FCC Chairman Kevin Martin put it, "VoIP services are increasingly being marketed and used as a substitute for traditional landline phones. While technologies will continue to revolve, core social goals... regarding the provision of communications services to all remain unchanged."

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