E911 and Emergency Calling

When someone dials 911 from your business phones, two things must happen: the call must go through immediately, and responders must be told where the caller actually is. Federal law now requires both. Kari's Law, which applies to multi-line telephone systems manufactured, installed, or upgraded after February 16, 2020, requires that 911 be reachable by dialing those three digits alone, with no prefix like dialing 9 for an outside line first. It also requires the system to send a notification, such as an email or screen alert, to a front desk or designated contact when a 911 call is placed, so someone on site knows help was called and can meet responders at the door.

RAY BAUM's Act addresses the second half: location. Under FCC rules implementing Section 506, 911 calls must deliver a dispatchable location, meaning the street address plus information like floor, suite, or room number needed to actually find the caller. Compliance deadlines have already passed: January 6, 2021 for fixed devices like desk phones, and January 6, 2022 for non-fixed and off-premises devices like softphones and mobile apps. In a one-room shop the street address may be enough; in a multi-suite or multi-floor building, "123 Main St" without a suite number is not a dispatchable location, and the law exists because minutes lost searching a building cost lives.

fvoip is built to meet both laws. 911 works by dialing 911, with no prefix, from every desk phone and app, and on-site notifications alert the contacts you designate whenever an emergency call is placed. Each device carries a registered emergency address you manage in the portal, with floor and suite detail for larger buildings, and because VoIP phones move, keeping those addresses current is a shared responsibility: when a user relocates, working from home, a new office, a job site, their emergency address should be updated so responders are sent to the right place. We prompt for this, but your team's diligence is part of the system.