2023-04-24 00:17:33
Quebecers who use Internet telephony do not necessarily have access to emergency service in French when they contact 911, learned The duty. A situation deemed “problematic” by the Quebec government, which returns the ball to Ottawa in the file.
François is not regarding to forget his call to 911 on March 21. In the morning, his wife, who is suffering from a serious illness, collapsed on the ground. “I thought it was a stroke, so I hopped on the phone to dial 911.”
The pensioner prefers to keep his real name confidential to preserve the tranquility of his spouse, who is suffering from very advanced cancer. But he wanted his story to be known.
The voice that answered François spoke only English. The man manages in the language of Shakespeare, but he and the operator might not communicate. “I understand English, but as much as my accent was incomprehensible to her, so was hers to me. I panicked. »
“After a while, he says, I hear another speaker who speaks French, but he doesn’t seem to hear me. »
It was finally by calling the local CLSC that he was able to have the ambulance redirected to his home. The operator had sent her to the wrong address, but she had understood that François was in Saint-Jean-Port-Joli.
The delay turned out to be “inconsequential” for his wife, who “recovered quickly following a visit to Montmagny hospital. “But let’s imagine such a situation in Amqui or Laval,” he said. And above all, how many people in Quebec are exposed to the same risk without knowing it?
The Ministry of Public Security is “aware of the problem” and confirms that it “may” be that citizens using IP services will be answered in English when they call 911.
Like many Quebecers, François uses an Internet telephone service, which has the advantage of being much less expensive than traditional services. IP telephony services are connected to a local Internet network and use an IP communication protocol. Some companies charge them up to ten times less than their cellular or landline equivalents.
IP companies offer a very affordable service. It may cost $2 a month, but it has flaws.
However, the companies that sell these packages do not all transfer calls directly to the nearest emergency centre. So it was a lady in Ontario who took François’ call. According to our information, she works for Northern 911 in Sudbury.
In Canada, regulation of IP telephony falls under the Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
The Ministry of Public Security is also sending the ball back to him in this case. He points out that he has no authority in the matter, private telecommunications being under “federal jurisdiction”. “The Ministry of Public Security (MSP) has also made the CRTC aware of this situation, which is considered problematic, and will continue to do so in order to ensure safety for the entire population”, indicated the spokesperson for the ministry. .
In a 2005 decision, the CRTC ordered companies “to notify their customers of any limits, before beginning to provide the service and during the term of the service contract”. The CRTC did not speak, in this decision, of the difficulties related to the language, but evoked “technical and operational problems”. He recommended that companies in the field offer “an interim solution that provides a level of service functionally comparable to basic 911 emergency service”.
Asked by The duty, the CRTC briefly replied that it was committed “to guaranteeing that all Canadians have access to telecommunications services in the official language of their choice, including 911”. “If anyone encounters obstacles in this regard, they are invited to inform the Council,” added his spokesperson.
François, he filed a complaint with the Commissioner of Official Languages at the end of March.
One more middleman
If François and the lady at the other end of the signal had understood each other, the call should normally have been transferred to Quebec later. More precisely at the emergency call center responsible for the territory where Saint-Jean-Port-Joli is located, the Chaudière-Appalaches Emergency Call Center (CAUCA).
CAUCA spokesperson Marie-Andrée Giroux points out that “the 911 network was developed to receive wired and cellular telephony,” and not for IP telephony.
“IP companies offer a very affordable service. It may cost $2 a month, but it has flaws,” she continues. According to Mme Giroux, it’s been like that “since IP telephony has existed”. However, this type of service has grown in popularity in recent years, she notes. “People need to be informed. »
After this painful experience, François wrote to his telephone company, Oxio, an Ontario company recently acquired by the Quebec group Cogeco.
Customer service apologized and wrote to him that “according to [sic] certain circumstances, in the event that there are no French-speaking operators available at the same time to answer you, an English-speaking operator will take the call”.
On its website, the company warns that there are “limitations to 911 service” and that their calls will be answered first before being redirected to the “nearest emergency response centre”.
She adds that, unlike public safety call centers (CASP), hers do not automatically generate the address from which the call originates. “You will need to provide your name, address/location and contact information verbally before your call can be routed to the appropriate PSAP,” it is warned. If the person cannot speak, the billing address is taken into account.
However, the disclaimer on the company’s website does not allude to the language limitations of the service.
At Cogeco, we recognize the existence of the problem, but we emphasize that the acquisition of Oxio is “very recent”. “We are looking into the situation with Oxio in more detail,” said communications advisor Laurise Roy-Tremblay in writing.
As for François, he intends to use his cell phone if he needs 911 once more.
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