E911 - Enhanced 911
Do not dial 911 for testing unless there is an actual emergency .
Because this is a critical issue for anyone responsible for telephony systems, we want to help you understand how it works when you partner with . This article contains important information for laws which require compliance, key terms, how to set up and test configurations, operating processes, and most importantly, how to help save lives.
Testing E911 - Dial 933
Dialing 933 simulates a 911 call and will reveal the phone number and address associated with your E911 registration.
The call will be routed to a system that provides an automated message confirming the phone number and address.
If the displayed information is incorrect, you need to contact your E911 provider to update the address.
Your E911 Address
Your phone system needs a physical address set for each user. This is the address that appears to the 911 dispatcher. The addresses in your system are visible to everyone, but if you have employees who work from home, they might not want to broadcast their home address to the entire organization. If your remote users require 911 services you must have an Enhanced DID serving each location.
Theoretically, tying a physical address to your device is better than not, but the reality is that we’re constantly moving around. If you step outside of the office for a meeting, for example, the set address doesn’t repopulate with your current location. Should you have to call 911 from the subway or a taxicab with your VoIP phone, the address will still be the one you wrote into the system. Or you may have mistyped your address, and emergency services show up to the 20th floor of the building next door, not to your office.
Operation and Limitations of Emergency Service
If an emergency arises, we want to help emergency responders find you. Emergency calling from your IP-telephony desk phone (“desk phone”) and softphone applications (“apps”) is different from emergency calling from traditional telephones. This policy describes how our emergency calling works and your responsibilities as a user.
If you are uncomfortable with any of the service limitations or your responsibilities described below, you should maintain an alternate means of calling emergency services.
If you are the Account Administrator, you must ensure that your users are aware of and understand this information.
Please note that emergency calling is not available from any device that does not permit direct local dialing to other phone numbers within your country (e.g., BYOC services in countries that BWS / IndigoVOICE does not have a dialplan). Users of virtual extensions and lines without a direct call back number must have an alternative means to reach emergency services.
How Emergency Calling Works
You Identify the Location Where You Are Primarily Using Our Services
Immediately upon activation of your direct dial line (whether used with a desk phone, app, or both), you or your Account Administrator must accurately register the address of the physical location where you will use your line. You can do this from within the app, or your Account Administrator can use the Administrative Portal. The registered address must comply with local address requirements, which are listed in Table 1.
We rely on this address to route your call to the closest emergency responders.
As explained below, if you move your device to a different location, you must update your address immediately to ensure that your emergency call is routed appropriately. Updates can be made via the Administrative Portal, directly on your app (where available), or by calling support.
Emergency service response times may be delayed if you do not provide an accurate and current physical address.
Your call cannot be routed to the closest emergency response center if we do not know your current location. Most emergency response centers cannot transfer your call to a center in a different region.
Updating Your Location (United States)
You are required to update your address each time you move your device to a different location and may use any address within your assigned country. Your account administrator can provide information on update functionality active on your account.
We only support Emergency calling services in the United States..
When You Call Emergency Services from Your Desk Phone or Computer-Based App
When you call emergency services from your desk phone or computer-based app, we route the call to local emergency responders, based on your address and in-country regulations. We provide the emergency response center with the location you provided and a number to call you back if the call is dropped. The emergency operator will not know your correct location if you did not update your address as required.
We cannot guarantee and do not control whether emergency response centers can see your location and call-back number. Due to service limitations at some emergency response centers, emergency operators may not have access to this information. Be prepared to provide the emergency operator with your telephone number and current location. If you are unable to speak, the emergency operator may not be able to send help and/or call you back should the call be disconnected.
In certain instances, your call cannot be routed directly to the local emergency response centers. Instead, it is sent to a national emergency contact center. Operators at these centers will ask for your current location so they may route your call to the correct local emergency response center.
Do not disconnect the call until told to do so by the operator. If the call is dropped, you should call back.
When You Call Emergency Services from Your Smartphone App
When you call emergency services from your smartphone app, we send the call to the smartphone’s native dialer. The smartphone app is not a replacement for wireless cellular service. You should call or text (where available) emergency services on your smartphone’s native dialer. If you dial or text the emergency services number while using the smartphone app, the app will close, the native dialer or SMS function will be launched, and the call or text will be handled by your wireless cellular service provider.
Android users who access the smartphone app from a “profile” on their device, must grant that “profile” access to the Android’s native dialer.
Emergency dialing over wi-fi may not be available on tablets or other mobile devices that do not have a native phone dialer and a wireless service plan.
Service Limitations
Certain events beyond our control may prevent you from reaching emergency services. These include
- If you have an Internet or power outage.
- If your broadband, ISP, or IP telephony services are suspended or terminated.
- If you are located in a country other than the one in which your digital line is provided. For example, if you have a US line and travel to the UK, you will not be able to reach the UK emergency services number.
- If you are located in a country where BWS / IndigoVOICE is not permitted or otherwise able to complete emergency calls.
- If there is network congestion that may delay or prevent completion of any call to emergency services.
Notification of Service Limitations.
You are required by law to notify all persons who may place calls using our services or may be present at the physical location where our services may be used, of the limitations of reaching emergency services from your desk phone or app. You must affix any warning sticker provided in a readily visible place on each piece of equipment that might be used to access or use our services.
Disclaimer of Liability
Your use, and use by your employees, guests and other third parties, of our emergency calling services are subject to the limitations described herein. The availability of certain features, such as transmission of your location or a call back number, depends on whether local emergency response centers support those features and other factors outside of our control. We rely on qualified third parties to assist us in routing emergency service calls and text messages. We do not have control over local emergency response centers, emergency calling centers, emergency responders, or other third parties.
We disclaim all responsibility for the conduct of emergency response centers and all third parties involved in the provision of emergency response services. To the extent permitted by applicable law, you hereby release, discharge, and hold us harmless from and against any and all liability relating to or arising from any acts or omissions of such third parties or other third parties involved in the handling of or response to any emergency or emergency call.
You agree to indemnify and hold us and any of our third-party provider(s) harmless from any and all third-party claims, losses, damages, fines, or penalties arising out of: (i) you or your users’ provision of incorrect information, including incorrect addresses, or failure to update your or users’ locations consistent with this policy and applicable law; (ii) your failure to properly notify any person who may place calls using the emergency calling services of the emergency calling limitations; (iii) the absence, failure, or outage of emergency service dialing using the Services for any reason; and (iv) the inability of any user to be able to dial emergency services or to access emergency service personnel for any reason.
Key Terms
Standard DID - The lowest cost DID at where NO address information is input into our system.
Enhanced DID - An upgraded DID at where address information is input into our system which can be forwarded to a PSAP.
Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) - Public safety telecommunicators are the responders for emergency situations when someone dials 911. The role of the PSAP is to obtain essential information and send the appropriate responders to the right location. These are often referred to interchangeably as Emergency Contact Centers (ECC).
Multi-line Telephone System (MLTS) - An enterprise/professional-grade phone system that offers a wide range of control and configuration options including scalability for a large number of users with assignable privileges and definable users. Common deployment of MLTS includes high-rises, campuses, compounds, and other large facilities. An MLTS may also be used to facilitate communication across multiple sites within an organization. These are often referred to interchangeably as PBXs, ATAs, etc.
Outbound Caller ID - The telephone number transmitted as the FROM number in an outbound call. This is the same as the FROM header in the SIP INVITE. This is the number a PSAP can call back in the event of an emergency in which additional communication is required from the party requesting emergency services.
Pre-dial - Refers to a custom requirement of a phone system to dial a specific number string before entering a destination number in the standard NXX or NPANXXXXXX format.
Ray Baum's Act
Ray Baum's Act, specifically section 506, mandates that any multi-line telephone system (MLTS) used by telecom companies or VoIP service providers, like , must be capable of providing 911 dispatch for any location in the United States. requires public-safety answering point (PSAP) information when associating an Enhanced 911 (E911) address to a telephone number (TN). When using the E911 product, customers provide the necessary identifiable information for emergency dispatch services.
The Act has expanded the scope of VoIP providers required to offer E911 services. To comply with this, charges a monthly service fee which covers legal and regulatory charges, including increases to state and local taxes on E911 services.
Kari's Law
Kari's Law is a subsection that was later added into Ray Baum's Act, which states that anyone must be able to reach a 911 call center when directly dialing 911 from an MLTS. The goals of Ray Baum's Act and Kari's Law are to ensure standardization and reliability for any calls made from an MLTS or VoIP provider service, like the service provides, in order to precisely locate a 911 caller. The location information that's passed is essential in high-rise buildings and multi-floored locations that may employ VoIP PBX systems. provides SIP service, enabling a PBX to work as a company telephone system. Under this act, the process of dialing 911 must be directly accessible without any pre-dial.
Contextually, the incident behind Kari's Law was due to an inability to dial 911 effectively and predictably. The incident led to a death because the caller was unfamiliar with a motel's pre-dial requirement to dial "9" before dialing "911" in order to call out to emergency services. Now, MLTS and VoIP service providers in the United States must connect to 911 without any additional dialing requirement.
Example: A user wishes to dial the main support phone number: 8002506510. In the following example, "9" could be the pre-dial (if the phone system was configured to require a pre-dial), signaling you want to reach an external destination. Since requires an 11-digit format for outbound North American calls, the "1" would need to be manually dialed or programmed into the dialing pattern: (9)(1) 800-250-6510.
This demonstrates the potential for custom requirements to confuse users and impede emergency communication. This is why phone systems and providers MUST allow end users to simply dial "911" and be connected with emergency services, along with the phone system transmitting a corresponding caller ID that provides exact location information for the PSAP to respond to for that call, and a direct telephone number to call the requester back if necessary.
IMPORTANT: Responsibility is ultimately up to whoever manages the phone system to cite local requirements for compliance with Ray Baum's Act and Kari's Law. For example, some states require you to have an Enhanced DID for each room/suite in a building, or for each building on a campus, etc. Refer to the following compliance resources for exact information.
Compliance Resources
The following government resources will assist you in achieving compliance with everything E911-related when configuring a MLTS VoIP system:
[External] 911.gov - Kari's Law and Ray Baum's Act
[External] FCC.gov - Multi-line Telephone Systems – Kari’s Law and RAY BAUM’S Act 911 Direct Dialing, Notification, and Dispatchable Location Requirements