Systems and methods for providing 9-1-1 services to nomadic internet telephony callers

1. A system for facilitating 9-1-1 service delivery to internet telephony customers, comprising:

a server device for receiving a 9-1-1 call from a user device via a data network, the 9-1-1 call being based on “9-1-1” digits dialed at the user device,

where the server device is configured to:

identify whether the user device is a fixed location device or a mobile user device based on the profile information associated with the user device, and

forward the 9-1-1 call to an operative services interface operatively connected to the server device when the user device is a mobile user device.

2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a storage medium associated with the server device for storing the profile information.

3. The system of claim 2 , where the profile information includes an indication as to whether the user device is a fixed location device or a mobile user device.

4. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a gateway device for interfacing between the data network and the operator services interface.

5. The system of claim 1 , where the operator services interface is configured to:

enable operator services personnel associated with the operator services interface to identify one of an appropriate emergency service provider (ESP) or public safety answering point (PSAP) based on query responses received from a user of the user device; and

transfer the 9-1-1 call to the identified ESP or PSAP for handling.

6. The system of claim 5 , where the ESP is operatively connected to the operator services interface for receiving the transferred 9-1-1 call from the user device.

7. The system of claim 5 , further comprising:

a selective router operatively connected to both the operator services interface and the PSAP for routing the transferred 9-1-1 call from the operator services interface to the identified PSAP.

8. The system of claim 7 , where the transferred 9-1-1 call is routed to the PSAP via a designated 911 trunk line identified by the operator services interface.

9. The system of claim 8 , where an Automatic Number Identification (ANI) associated with the transferred 9-1-1 call indicates that the transferred 9-1-1 call is an operator-assisted call.

10. The system of claim 1 , where the data network is an Internet Protocol (IP) based network and where the user device is a voice over IP (VoIP) user device.

11. The system of claim 1 , where the server device comprises:

a proxy server for managing setup, processing, and tear down of received calls; and

a redirect server for examining call data and determining appropriate treatment for the call.

12. The system of claim 1 , where the user device is a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone and the server device includes both a SIP proxy server and a SIP redirect server.

13. A method for providing 9-1-1 services to an internet telephony user, comprising:

receiving a 9-1-1 call based on “9-1-1” dialed from a user device via a data network;

determining whether the user device is a fixed location user device or a mobile user device;

translating the dialed “9-1-1” digits to a “0” digit when the user device is a mobile user device; and

forwarding the received 9-1-1 call, in response to the translated “0” digit, to an operator services interface.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

determining whether an automatic number identification (ANI) associated with the user device can be resolved when it is determined that the user device is a fixed location user device; and

translating the received “9-1-1” digits associated with the 9-1-1 call to a “0” digit when it is determined that the ANI associated with the user device can not be resolved.

15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

determining a geographic location of the user based on interactive querying between the user and operator services personnel in response to the forwarded 9-1-1 call received by the operator services interface;

identifying an appropriate public safety answering point (PSAP) associated with the determined geographic location; and

forwarding the 9-1-1 call to the identified PSAP.

16. The method of claim 15 , where forwarding the 9-1-1 call to the identified PSAP further comprises:

forwarding the 9-1-1 call on a dedicated 911 trunk line associated with the identified PSAP.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

forwarding the 9-1-1 call on a dedicated 911 trunk line associated with the identified PSAP via a selective router associated with the PSAP.

18. The method of claim 16 , where forwarding the 9-1-1 call to the identified PSAP further comprises:

including call data with the forwarded 9-1-1 call indicating that the 9-1-1 call is an operator-assisted call.

19. A method for providing 9-1-1 services to Voice over Internet Protocol subscribers comprising:

establishing a profile associated with a user device, where the profile indicates that the user device is a mobile user device not having a fixed geographic location;

receiving a dialed 9-1-1 call from the user device;

examining the profile to determine that the user device is a mobile user device;

manipulating the received “9-1-1” digits to a “0” digit when the user device is a mobile user device;

forwarding the 9-1-1 call to an operator services interface;

identifying caller geographic location based on interactive queries between operator services personnel and the caller;

identifying an appropriate public safety answering point (PSAP) based on the identified caller geographic location; and

forwarding the 9-1-1 call to the identified PSAP via a 911 network associated with the PSAP.