Emergency Call Notifications
In recent years, the FCC has passed Kari’s Law and RAY BAUM’s Act to help expedite response to emergency services to callers and improve outcomes. As part of Kari’s Law, all multi-line telephone systems (MLTS) must be preconfigured to send a notification to an on-site location (like a front desk or security office) when a 911 call is made.
For Emergency Call Notifications to work, each phone number on the account must be successfully configured with a valid E911 record, which includes the physical address where the device is located and any other information necessary to precisely identify the caller’s location. It is the end user's responsibility to keep this information up to date, but they may need a reminder.
Alternative Solution
Emergency Call Notifications are required for any and all MLTS manufactured, imported, sold, leased, or installed after February 16, 2020. If your account already meets this requirement with an on-premises solution, select Alternative solution in use.
Configure Notifications
It is important that you choose to notify a central location where someone will see or hear the notification, such as a managed distribution list of on-site personnel (front desk, security office, administrators, etc.), rather than an individual who may or may not be at the location 100% of the time. While there isn't a limit on how many contacts can be entered here, make sure the number is reasonable for your organization.
Go to Settings > General: Emergency Notifications.
Identify the email address(es) and SMS-capable phone number(s) that will be notified when an emergency call is placed from a number on the account.
Enter those email addresses and phone numbers in the portal and click [Save].
Click [Test Notifications] to send a test to make sure it’s working.
Alternatively, you can ask the end user to dial 933 to verify their emergency call record with their E911 provider. The call will be connected to an automated 911 verification service, which will play back the dialing phone number and its associated address and send a test notification to the ENS recipients.
Confirm with the recipients they have received the test notifications and they understand what the notification is for.
Now, when someone on your account dials 9-1-1, the emergency call is processed and a notification is sent to the recipients configured in the portal, so they are made aware of the situation and can assist emergency responders upon arrival.
Emergency Notification Log
The Emergency Notification Log contains a complete history of all test and emergency call notifications sent for this account. The notification type is identified on the left, followed by the date, time, and sent status:
Successful: The notification was successfully sent to all parties.
Partially Failed: The notification was sent to some but not all parties.
Failed: The notification was not sent.
Expand an entry for details.
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