E911 (Enhanced 911) automatically sends a caller's callback number and location to the 911 center. For hotels, senior living communities and other properties with a multi-line telephone system (MLTS), federal rules require direct 911 dialing with no prefix, an alert to someone on site when 911 is called, and a dispatchable location: the street address plus details such as the building, floor and room. VoIP phones add one more job: keeping each line's registered location current.
What is E911, and how is it different from 911?
911 is the number. E911 is the information that travels with the call. With basic 911, the dispatcher has to ask where you are. With E911, the 911 center receives a callback number and a location automatically, so help can be sent even if the caller can't speak.
On a single-line home phone, the location is simply the street address. In a hotel tower or a senior living community, the street address alone isn't enough: responders need the building, the floor and the room or apartment. That extra detail is what the FCC calls a dispatchable location.
What is an E911 address?
For VoIP service, the E911 address is the location registered for a line, which is what the 911 center receives if the system can't determine the location automatically. Under the FCC's rules, the provider must:
- get the location from the customer before service starts, at the place the service will first be used;
- offer at least one way to update it at any time; and
- check whether a 911 call is coming from a different location, and either prompt for a new one or update it automatically.
The rules for multi-line phone systems
Hotels, senior living communities, office buildings and campuses typically run a multi-line telephone system (MLTS). Two federal laws set the 911 rules for them:
- Kari's Law: direct dialing. Anyone must be able to dial 911 without a prefix or access code, such as dialing 9 first. This applies to systems manufactured, imported, offered for sale or lease, sold, leased or installed after February 16, 2020.
- Kari's Law: notification. When someone dials 911, the system must alert a central location, on site or off site, where someone is likely to notice, such as the front desk or security.
- RAY BAUM'S Act, Section 506: dispatchable location. The 911 call must carry the street address plus the floor, room or other detail responders need. Fixed devices had to provide it automatically by January 6, 2021; non-fixed devices such as softphones and tablets by January 6, 2022 where technically feasible.
- Who is responsible: manufacturers and vendors must ship systems that support direct dialing, and the people who install, manage or operate the system must configure it.
Our guide to Kari's Law for hotels covers the history and the details.
E911 for VoIP: fixed and non-fixed devices
Moving to VoIP and softphones changes how location works. A wired handset stays in one room, but a softphone on a tablet or a staff member's mobile can move around the property. The FCC's rules for interconnected VoIP reflect that:
- Fixed VoIP devices: automated dispatchable location with each 911 call, since January 6, 2021.
- Non-fixed VoIP devices: automated dispatchable location where technically feasible, since January 6, 2022. Otherwise the registered location or alternative location information, and as a last resort a national emergency call center.
Check your 911 setup
HotelGenie E911 sends the room or apartment to the 911 center, alerts your staff by text, email and voice, and works with phone systems on T1, PRI or SIP trunks.
See HotelGenie E911
Senior living and multi-building properties
In a senior living community or a multi-tower resort, "the building" is not a location. Each extension should map to something responders can walk to, such as "Apartment 214, North Building" or "Room 1104, South Tower". Residents who keep a traditional phone still need that detail on every 911 call, and staff need to know at the same moment so someone can meet responders at the right entrance. See how HotelGenie handles this for senior living and casino resorts.
How to choose an E911 service provider
- Does it work with the phone system you have today (T1, PRI or SIP), or does it require a new one?
- Does every extension send a dispatchable location, down to the room or apartment?
- How does it handle non-fixed devices: softphones, tablets and staff mobiles?
- Who on site is alerted when 911 is dialed, and by which channels: text, email, voice?
- Can the 911 center call the caller back directly?
- Is 911 call recording available if you need it?
- How are locations kept current after renovations, room renumbering or new buildings?
- Will the provider run a live test call from each device type before go-live?
How HotelGenie E911 works
When someone dials 911, the call goes straight out with no prefix. HotelGenie adds the dispatchable location, such as the room and tower or the apartment and building, plus a direct callback number, and at the same moment sends text, email and voice alerts to the staff you designate. Optional call recording is available. It works with any phone system that supports T1, PRI or SIP trunks and can run alongside your existing carrier or replace it. See HotelGenie E911.
E911 questions
E911, or Enhanced 911, automatically sends a caller's callback number and location to the 911 center, so dispatchers know where to send help without having to ask.
911 is the emergency number. E911 is the information sent with the call: a callback number and the caller's location. On a multi-line system, that location should include the floor and room, not just the street address.
Interconnected VoIP providers must support 911. Under FCC rules, fixed VoIP devices have had to send an automated dispatchable location since January 6, 2021, and non-fixed devices since January 6, 2022 where technically feasible.
It is the location registered for a VoIP line, used for 911 calls when the location can't be determined automatically. The provider must collect it before service starts, let you update it, and check when a 911 call comes from a different place.
Kari's Law applies to multi-line telephone systems, which the FCC describes as typical of hotels, office buildings and campuses. A community that runs a shared phone system should plan on meeting it and confirm its obligations with counsel and the local 911 authority.
Talk to us about your 911 setup
Book a demo and we'll show you what the 911 center and your staff receive when someone dials 911 from your property.
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Sources
This article is general information, not legal advice. Rules can change, so check the current FCC text before making compliance decisions.
