Beyond the NENA architecture and VoIP, the LIS is capable of providing location information to any IP device within its served access network.
It is therefore pertinent to consider which mechanisms might allow the user to manipulate systems in simple and ubiquitous ways, and how computers can be made more aware of the facilities in their surroundings.
This approach is particularly attractive because location techniques can be devised that are physically unobtrusive and do not rely on explicit user action.
This involves tracing data through aggregation points in the network (such as Ethernet switches, or DSL access nodes) and finding the port that packets for that device are sent to.
A LIS in the immediate access network is automatically discovered[3] and location information is retrieved using the HELD protocol.