The 911 number is compulsory for VoIP phones

The consumers benefiting from VoIP telephony will have same 911 services as those with traditional phone services.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted 4-0 to force Voice-over-Internet-Protocol services to provide the full-featured "Enhanced 911" in a meeting held on Friday.

The Federal Communications Commission gave companies that offer Internet-based phone service 120 days to certify that their customers will be able to reach an emergency dispatcher when they call 911.

The "Enhanced 911" will provide also operators with the consumer's location, without the caller having to provide this information. This feature will be available only for half of the people connected through these phone companies.

About 1.5 million customers use the rapidly growing voice over Internet protocol instead of traditional phone service.

Companies said they may be hard-pressed to comply with the rule on such a tight time frame but they do think it will help them in talks with regional phone companies over gaining access to the 911 systems they control.