VoIP Pioneer: IP Technology Not Effectively Used in Katrina

Internet telephone or VoIP technology is well-suited for disaster work but wasn't used to its full potential after Hurricane Katrina, VoIP pioneer Tom Evslin said in a speech at the VON Conference on Monday. “We weren't ready,” he said. “Many couldn't find a way to volunteer and donate, we couldn't get attention from the FCC, we haven't made the case” that VoIP is better suited than the public switched telephone network (PSTN) for disaster recovery, he said. VoIP could have connected people along the Gulf Coast far more quickly than PSTN simply because of VoIP’s nomadic, flexible Internet-based nature, Evslin said. At the very least, public networks such as BellSouth should have tried gambits such as setting up voice mail hubs where people could leave messages for one other. “We need to get our solutions in order before the next catastrophe,” he said. “I hope next time we can come closer to reaching the potential of our technology.” Evslin also said he hopes that government recovery spending does not rebuild BellSouth's obsolete network when the money could upgrade the region’s facilities.
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Edie Herman]
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