E911 listings are required by regulatory governing the operation of telecommunication
services in Canada, the United States as well as certain other countries. In order to be in
compliance, providers must ensure they have taken all reasonable steps to list callerID's with
applicable addresses for emergency services.
Listings are not required for each DID (incoming phone number). However listings are
required for each and every outbound callerID to be used. Here are some examples of PBX
deployments:
SCENARIO 1: Single Location + Single outbound CallerID
The most basic configuration would be a single office location where all extensions have the
same outbound CallerID. In this case, the single outbound CallerID needs to be listed.
SCENARIO 2: Single Location + Multiple outbound CallerID's
A single location where each department and/or user (extension) needs its own outbound
CallerID can be configured in one of two ways:
1) Each outbound CallerID should be listed, even though they would all have the same
address. Sometimes large deployments where departments are accessed through
different entrances should always be listed individually.
2) Some PBX systems allow for an emergency CallerID. This means that although each
department and/or user (extension) may have different outbound CallerID's, the PBX
can override the CallerID with a different one when 911 is dialed. In this case only one
CallerID needs to be listed.
SCENARIO 3: Multi Location + Single outbound CallerID
If a PBX system is shared between multiple businesses at different addresses or different
locations, each location must be listed uniquely to ensure 911 responders have the correct
address information. If all locations have the same outbound CallerID, some additional
configurations are necessary.
As stated in the previous example, some PBX systems have an emergency CallerID field. In
this example, we will need to assign DID's to each location even though they may never be
used. Then that DID must be forced as the outbound CallerID whenever 911 is dialed. As
such, each of these CallerID's can now be listed with the correct location information.
SCENARIO 4: Multi Location + Multiple outbound CallerID's
A more complex scenario is multi location system with multiple outbound CallerID's.
If each location has a single outbound CallerID, the solution is simply to ensure that each
outbound CallerID is listed with the correct location information. However if each location has
multiple outbound CallerID's (ex: departments, users etc), then the solutions are as follows:
1) Each outbound CallerID at each location should be listed, even though they may all
have the same address. Sometimes large deployments where departments are
accessed through different entrances should always be listed individually.
2) Some PBX systems allow for an emergency CallerID. This means that although each
department and/or user (extension) may have different outbound CallerID's, the PBX
can override the CallerID with a different one when 911 is dialed from a specific
location. In this case only one CallerID per location needs to be listed.
IMPORTANT NOTES
– Never assume that a 911 call will not be placed.
– Always ensure proper location information is listed, and updated from time to time if the
user location(s) move.
– Never assume that you will be able to provide address information on a 911 call. While
E911 services always confirm your location, in some instances where the caller is
unable to speak, emergency services are dispatched to the listed location information.
– Ensure CallerID is always in proper format. Ex:4165551212
– For new deployments, you may perform a test call to ensure address information is
being received by the 911 callcenter properly. This is especially important in multi
location and multi CallerID scenarios. But before making a test call, please contact
IXICA support team for instructions on how to perform an authorized test.
– Always ensure 911 listings are complete before allowing users access to the system. In
some cases 911 has been dialed within minutes of a system going live.
– An unprovisioned 911 call (911 calls from a CallerID not listed) will result in a high fine
per call, as well as may be in violation of CRTC regulations for failure to list.
