Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) emergency calls to an Emergency Response Center (ERC) are handled through a VoIP conference bridge on a VoIP service provider's soft switch. The soft switch works with a VoIP positioning center (VPC) to obtain location information, which is compared against a PSAP database to find an initial best-appropriate PSAP for the location of the emergency caller. The PSAP is issued an Invite message to join the conference, establishing an emergency call. Third parties such as police, ambulance may be issued Invite messages to join the conference. Cold transfers are avoided by Inviting participants to join a single emergency conference rather than passing an emergency call from party to party (e.g., from PSAP to police to ambulance, etc.) The PSAP, other emergency responders, and even the initial VoIP emergency caller may leave and rejoin the VoIP conference without dropping the conference between the others.