New E911 Regulations for Business
As most of you probably don’t know, February 16, 2020 ushered in new regulations when it comes to 911 calling for multi-line phone systems. Most businesses are NOT in compliance. Furthermore, many phone systems are not going to be compatible with the new laws. For existing phone systems, the law is vague at the moment. The consensus seems to be that if the system is not under any maintenance or support contract, then you may not have to make modifications. Keep in mind that if you are not in compliance, and an emergency occurs, it may be very costly to find out that you should have been in compliance. If you do not plan to get compliant, you should seek legal advice.
One thing to note is that the additional information being transmitted requires a Voice over IP service. The traditional analog lines from the old phone carriers do not contain this information. Many of those same providers cannot transmit this information. The is a situation where the newer providers have the technology to send this information.
What do you need to have in place to be in compliance?
- Direct dialing of 911. That means that your phone system must support reaching a 9-1-1 operator by dialing 9-1-1, not 9911 or 8911 or any other digits besides 911.
- Dispatchable location. This means that your outbound calling number ID must have the actual location of the emergency. This also includes employees who work from home. If they dial 911, it must show their address, not the company’s main address. This also applies if your company has multiple locations.
- Notification. The system must notify a central location at the facility where the system is installed or to another person or organization regardless of location.
The interpretation that I have is that if you have multiple buildings at a single location, your dispatchable location should include the building. This also applies if your building has multiple floors. Different states may have different requirements as well. The state of Michigan has a provision regarding the number of square feet each location covers.
Since we are talking about the safety of people, I believe we cannot be over cautious. Look at this from the standpoint of a first responder.
If you need any help with this, we work with phone systems and voice providers that, with the proper installation, are in compliance. Also keep in mind, that this would be considered a new project for any existing phone system currently under support or maintenance simply because this was not a requirement when the system was originally installed.