3 Top E911 Risk Factors for Enterprises

Modern enterprises face obstacles in ensuring reliable E911 support due to their complexity and a few key characteristics.

• They often operate across various locations nationwide, from large campuses with multistory buildings to small branch offices with minimal staff.
• UC and UCaaS technology affords mobility, enabling users to move seamlessly within and between these locations.
• Employees frequently access the voice network remotely, whether from home or from other offsite environments.

Collectively, these factors – location, mobility, and remote work – make it challenging to determine where a worker is at a given point in time; that’s especially problematic during emergencies.

Precise location information is crucial to routing 911 calls to the appropriate public safety answering point (PSAP). And as that call is routed, it’s essential for a dispatchable location to be included in the call workflow so that first responders can arrive quickly. Let’s explore each of these three risk factors and look at ways to mitigate them.

E911 Location Risk Factor

Centralized infrastructure in enterprises complicates 911 calls getting routed to the correct PSAP. For instance, when a branch office in California is connected to a corporate IP-PBX in New York, a 911 call could be mistakenly routed to a New York PSAP. There are thousands of PSAPs in North America and they work independently of each other, making it critical for calls to be routed to the right PSAP.

The transmission of dispatchable location details to the PSAP is also essential - and required by law per FCC regulations. If a call is placed from a large multistory building, first responders need to know specific information such as floor, quadrant, or workstation location, not just the street address. Someone working at the front desk might not be aware an emergency is taking place and would therefore be unable to direct help to the proper area within the building.

Solution: Emergency Routing Service

Intrado's Emergency Routing Service connects organizations to the correct PSAP across the US and Canada, regardless of where the corporate PBX is located. Whether offices are spread across a large campus or throughout North America, calls from each location will reach the appropriate PSAP with detailed location information – beyond the street address – included. So, if a caller is in office 502 on the 5th floor, those details are passed along with the call and first responders will know exactly where to go upon arrival.

E911 Mobility Risk Factor

Enterprise mobility gives workers the ability to move more freely within the corporate environment. People can remain keep connected when moving from one office location to another or use multiple devices in different areas, all linked to the same phone number. But this flexibility creates a dilemma: how to pinpoint a user's true location when they dial 911 and ensure this information is transmitted to the correct PSAP.

Solution: Emergency Gateway

Intrado's Emergency Gateway addresses this by tracking IP phones based on their assigned locations using layer 2 (switch/ports-based), layer 3 (IP subnet-based), and wireless IP network elements. Instead of relying on the caller’s phone number, Emergency Gateway determines the location based on the specific device and its connection to network elements. This location data is then sent to Emergency Routing Service, which uses it to route the call to the correct PSAP. It gives users the freedom to move within the network without losing reliable 911 accessibility.

E911 Remote Work Risk Factor

Supporting remote workers, who might access the corporate voice network from home or in public place, presents a challenge even for traditional E911 solutions which might rely on local trunks and gateways. These solutions fail to make remote workers’ locations known and will likely result in calls being routed to incorrect PSAPs, posing a significant safety risk to staff.

Solution: Location Management Tools

Intrado offers tools for both Emergency Routing Service and Emergency Gateway which enable remote workers to self-provision their location data in real-time. When users connect from a new offsite location, they are prompted to enter their address details, ensuring that accurate location data is available for emergency situations. When reconnecting from a previously entered location, the system recognizes it, eliminating the need for repeated entry. These tools deliver compliance with dispatchable location requirements while protecting your remote workforce in the event of an emergency.

Mitigate Your E911 Risks

Is your enterprise equipped to handle these E911 risks effectively? Regardless of the E911 challenges your enterprise may face, Intrado offers comprehensive solutions to mitigate safety risks and comply with regulatory requirements. Contact our E911 experts using the form on this page.

You can read more about E911 compliance, trends, challenges and more in our whitepaper, “Why Duty of Care Requires a Proactive 911 Strategy.”