Ofcom issues £700k fine to Vonage for emergency services failures

Vonage have been fined £700,000 by Ofcom for failing to ensure customers could make calls to the emergency services. Vonage self-reported to Ofcom to advise them of an issue affecting business customers between 23rd October 2023 and the 3rd November. Ofcom announced an investigation into Vonage back in March 2024.

The issue appeared to affect Vonage users on the business VoIP platform who found that the were unable to dial the emergency services when using desk phones. The cause appears to have been identified as a software update. Ofcom noted that Vonage failed to carry out testing following the update and that the company did not have adequate monitoring procedures in place to be able to identify issues with emergency calls. The company has reportedly made changes to processes to prevent this issue in the future.

“Being able to call the emergency services can mean the difference between life and death. It’s vital that telecoms providers take their responsibilities seriously and if they don’t, we’ll hold them to account. Vonage fell short on a number of levels, putting its customers at unacceptable risk.”

George Lusty, Enforcement Director, Ofcom

This is not the first time that Vonage have been investigated for this problem. Back in 2018 a case was opened into Vonage for the same issue, and the company was then fined £25,400. Hopefully this time they will learn lessons and ensure that vital access to emergency services is properly monitored.