The National Police Agency has begun researching technology that will enable people to make emergency calls by dialing 110 on Internet protocol telephones, NPA officials said Thursday.
The NPA was slated Friday to post an outline of specifications for the technology on its Web site for a month to solicit opinions from the public, IP-phone operators and other related concerns.
It hopes to begin test operations next year.
Use of IP phones is spreading in Japan with the growth of broadband communications.
But various problems remain in receiving emergency calls via 110, such as the different operating technologies, the inability to track callers' locations and concerns about unstable connections.
The NPA also believes that security measures to combat illegal access attempts and viruses need to be set up before the emergency call system can be connected with the Internet.