Accurate 911 Call Routing (E911), Kari’s Law and RAY BAUM’s Act

Ensure accurate 911 call routing and dispatchable location management for the safety and well-being of your employees, customers, and guests.

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911 Location Management

At Universal Connectivity, we are dedicated to helping you and your employees remain as safe as possible. Part of that is making sure Emergency responders can reach an employee, customer, or guest in need as quickly as possible – by ensuring the ability to dial 911 directly and by reducing or even eliminating time spent looking for the 911 caller. In addition to FCC rules and guidelines which require that phone systems transmit critical data directly to 911centers, the FCC also added a new rule to include critical data about dispatchable locations from where the call has been placed.

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Why Universal Connectivity?

Universal Connectivity is your strategic partner committed to providing you with the E911 solutions to give you peace of mind in protecting your most important assets.

  • Our team is here to keep you informed and help you implement best practices both in the workplace and with your remote workers.
  • Our solutions will ensure compliance and support both state and federal regulations.
  • Our “933” testing capabilities provide you with the ability to receive the exact information that would be delivered to 911 operators ensuring it was registered properly. Reducing live 911 test calls.
  • Our solution ensures reliable emergency call routing to public safety in the U.S and Canada.
  • Our portal allows you to manage your dispatchable location information (this is automatic for nomadic devices, such as Webex desktop).

Do You Know Where the Emergency Is?

Time is precious and during a crisis, you need to be confident that your 911 call goes through along with critical information about their exact location so emergency responders can quickly and easily locate the person(s) in need.

Kari’s law: What you need to know:

  • Signed into law: On February 16, 2018. Went into effect in February 2020.
  • Direct dialing: Multi-line Telephone Systems (MLTS), must allow the user to directly dial 911 without any prefixes or access codes. This also includes all softphones.
  • Emergency Notification: Notification must be sent when 911 is called. This includes information about the caller, where they are, and a phone number to reach the 911 caller. These notifications are usually sent to a security guard, front desk, manager, facilities, or receptionist within the facility who can help the first responders locate the caller.
  • Call back number: A valid call-back number must be provided so that in the case of a disconnection, the 911 dispatcher can reconnect with the caller.
Accurate 911 Call Routing & Kari’s Law
Accurate 911 Call Routing & Ray Baum’s Act

RAY BAUM’s Act: What you need to know:

FCC’s new rules were published in December 2019. This act requires a “dispatchable location” to be included when 911 is dialed. This information includes not only the building’s street address but also adequate information for emergency responders to successfully locate the caller (room number, floor number, conference room, break room, or other applicable information). This also includes covering remote workers as well. RAY BAUM’s Act went into effect on the following dates based on services:

Compliance date January 6, 2021

  • Fixed MLTS (multi-line telephone system)
  • Fixed Interconnected VoIP, Telephony
  • Fixed TRS (Telephone Relay Services)
  • Fixed Telephony

Compliance date January 6, 2022

  • Non-fixed MLTS
  • Non-fixed Interconnected VoIP
  • Non-fixed TRS

What are the E911 service fees and taxes?

Enhanced 911 (E911) service automatically transmits a caller's location to emergency responders when dialing 911. Universal Connectivity provides mandatory E911 service for all U.S. inbound/outbound voice and fax lines, excluding virtual and toll-free numbers. The E911 Service Fee is a monthly charge per qualifying line to recover Universal Connectivity's direct costs in providing this critical service. Additionally, state and local E911 taxes may apply based on the customer's service address to fund local emergency programs. While the E911 Service Fee is set by Universal Connectivity, E911 taxes are government-mandated and vary by location. Understanding these fees helps ensure reliable access to emergency services while using VoIP technology. 

Learn More About E911 Fees & Taxes

e911 Taxes & Fees - Universal Connectivity

Is Your Business E911 Compliant?

Conventional 911 services were based on a phone number associated with a fixed location. In addition to businesses continuing to move their communications to the cloud, today’s workforce is becoming more mobile and can work from anywhere. This is creating a level of complexity in providing accurate 911 call routing and dispatchable location management. This advancement in technology along with devices being able to move outside their predefined locations has created this need for a new solution to ensure a person can be located accordingly if they dialed 911 from an enterprise device no matter where that device may have traveled.

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With Universal Connectivity’s 911 solutions, you will keep workers safe and devices E911 compliant. Count on:

  • 911 management: With flexible 911 access and using our portal to keep your information current and accurate.
  • Emergency Call Routing: Delivers call routing and location information to public safety answering points
  • Location management: Make sure your employees, customers, and guests can be reached quickly by emergency responders with the ability to dial 911 directly and reduce time spent locating the caller with dispatchable location information.
  • Automatically track IP phones: Assign locations to IP desk phones, softphones, and wireless phones as they move on your network.
  • Support remote employees: Enable real-time location updates for off-premises users and remote workers directly from their IP phones.
  • Notify your team: Instantly set in motion 911 call notifications, three-way call monitoring, and custom emails to authorized personnel.

Emergency Planning Best Practices

Have an Emergency Plan

A strong plan that everyone on your team understands is crucial during a crisis. Outline roles and train staff on what the organization’s practices are for handling emergency situations.

Have Dispatchable Locations

Have a floor plan that indicates each “dispatchable location”, the phone number, and the extension located in that “dispatchable location”. Distribute to anyone that is responsible for alerting first responders to your business locations (e.g., Receptionist, security, facilities, management, front desk). 

Define Office Space

If offices within your site are not currently labeled, add labels to identify the space corresponding to your floor plan (e.g., Office 101, East Conference Room, Staff Lounge) Using numbers or other identifiers instead of employee names can minimize maintenance required later.

Define Building Entrances

If you have multiple entrances to your building, make sure they are labeled and properly identified as well (e.g., 159 South Drive, Hartford, Ct., 06107, East entrance, 5th floor, Room 110).

Identify All Devices

Include all static (e.g., Desk phone or Webex desktop) and nomadic devices (e.g., cell phones, laptop) on your enterprise network.

Decide How to Find Devices

In an open floor plan, a group of phones could be categorized as one location. In a closed floor plan, each room is one location. What’s important to understand is that Emergency responders should be able to locate the caller without any additional instructions.

Keep Floor Plan Updated

Whenever a phone is moved to a different “dispatchable location” be sure to update the floor plan with the new location of the device and redistribute the updated plan to the appropriate staff.

Use Emergency Alert System

Improve the response time of your team with immediate alerts and the critical information they need to respond and stay safe. The same system can also be used for daily communication needs across any device, including legacy systems.

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