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Source facts: emergency calling includes connection, location, and notification

\n

The National 911 Program’s Kari’s Law and RAY BAUM’s Act guidance explains two related federal requirements for multi-line telephone systems. Kari’s Law addresses direct dialing of 911 without an outside-line prefix and requires notification to a central location onsite or offsite when a 911 call is made. The notice is intended to include a callback number and information about the caller’s location.

\n

RAY BAUM’s Act addresses dispatchable location. The guidance defines this as a validated street address plus additional information, such as a suite, apartment, or similar detail, needed to locate the caller. In a campus or multi-story facility, a street address alone may not direct responders to the correct building, entrance, floor, wing, or room. Requirements vary for fixed, non-fixed, onsite, and offsite devices, and applicability depends on the system and relevant dates.

\n

The Federal Communications Commission is the authority on federal compliance. State and local 911 rules, fire and building codes, elevator requirements, carrier capabilities, and the emergency communications center’s practices can add obligations. A business should obtain qualified legal and technical advice rather than treating this article as a compliance determination.

\n\n

DSE recommendation: test the caller-to-responder path as a life-safety function

\n

Create an emergency-calling register that covers more than ordinary desk phones. Include reception and guard stations, conference rooms, common-area and refuge-area phones, elevator or parking devices, analog lines, contact-center positions, softphones, shared phones, temporary spaces, remote users, and any security intercom that can place an outside call.

\n
    \n
  1. Assign a real location. For each endpoint or calling zone, record the civic address and the additional building, entrance, floor, suite, room, quadrant, or landmark responders need. Use names that match posted wayfinding and the information known to the responding agency. Do not rely on an internal extension label that public safety cannot interpret.
    2. \n
  2. Verify direct dialing. Confirm that dialing 911 reaches the correct emergency communications center without a trunk prefix, authorization code, receptionist, or menu. Preserve 911 behavior when ordinary outbound calling restrictions are applied.
    3. \n
  3. Design the onsite notice. Route the legally required notification to a continuously appropriate destination, not one unattended inbox. The recipient should see the callback and location, avoid delaying or intercepting the call, initiate the site response, direct responders to the caller, and protect sensitive incident information.
    4. \n
  4. Test failure and mobility cases. Address a phone moved to another jack, a softphone used from home, Wi-Fi calling, loss of primary connectivity, power failure, failover carrier, changed tenant suite, renovated floor, night shift, and a notification recipient who is unavailable. Define which cases cannot provide an automatic precise location and what approved alternative applies.
    5. \n
  5. Coordinate lawful testing. Never create an unannounced test call to 911. Arrange the method and timing with the service provider and appropriate emergency communications center, then verify the displayed calling number and location, two-way audio, routing, callback, and onsite notification. Document who authorized and observed the test.
    6. \n
  6. Control change. Make emergency-location review mandatory when phones, switches, trunks, carriers, network zones, room numbers, tenants, buildings, or notification groups change. A successful commissioning test years ago does not prove today’s location record.
    7. \n
\n

Post the facility address and concise location cues where a caller can read them under stress. Train reception and security not to hang up, transfer, or call the person placing the emergency call merely to investigate. Their job is to support the response: open the correct entrance, send a guide, control an elevator if authorized, bring emergency equipment, and preserve access for responders.

\n

Audit unmatched endpoints, duplicate or vague locations, test exceptions, failed notifications, and moves completed without 911 review. The acceptance record should prove the entire chain—from a person dialing three digits to public safety receiving a usable location and onsite staff taking a defined supporting action.

\n\n

Official references

\n", "content_text": "Source facts: emergency calling includes connection, location, and notification\nThe National 911 Program’s Kari’s Law and RAY BAUM’s Act guidance explains two related federal requirements for multi-line telephone systems. Kari’s Law addresses direct dialing of 911 without an outside-line prefix and requires notification to a central location onsite or offsite when a 911 call is made. The notice is intended to include a callback number and information about the caller’s location.\nRAY BAUM’s Act addresses dispatchable location. The guidance defines this as a validated street address plus additional information, such as a suite, apartment, or similar detail, needed to locate the caller. In a campus or multi-story facility, a street address alone may not direct responders to the correct building, entrance, floor, wing, or room. Requirements vary for fixed, non-fixed, onsite, and offsite devices, and applicability depends on the system and relevant dates.\nThe Federal Communications Commission is the authority on federal compliance. State and local 911 rules, fire and building codes, elevator requirements, carrier capabilities, and the emergency communications center’s practices can add obligations. A business should obtain qualified legal and technical advice rather than treating this article as a compliance determination.\n\nDSE recommendation: test the caller-to-responder path as a life-safety function\nCreate an emergency-calling register that covers more than ordinary desk phones. Include reception and guard stations, conference rooms, common-area and refuge-area phones, elevator or parking devices, analog lines, contact-center positions, softphones, shared phones, temporary spaces, remote users, and any security intercom that can place an outside call.\n\nAssign a real location. For each endpoint or calling zone, record the civic address and the additional building, entrance, floor, suite, room, quadrant, or landmark responders need. Use names that match posted wayfinding and the information known to the responding agency. Do not rely on an internal extension label that public safety cannot interpret.\nVerify direct dialing. Confirm that dialing 911 reaches the correct emergency communications center without a trunk prefix, authorization code, receptionist, or menu. Preserve 911 behavior when ordinary outbound calling restrictions are applied.\nDesign the onsite notice. Route the legally required notification to a continuously appropriate destination, not one unattended inbox. The recipient should see the callback and location, avoid delaying or intercepting the call, initiate the site response, direct responders to the caller, and protect sensitive incident information.\nTest failure and mobility cases. Address a phone moved to another jack, a softphone used from home, Wi-Fi calling, loss of primary connectivity, power failure, failover carrier, changed tenant suite, renovated floor, night shift, and a notification recipient who is unavailable. Define which cases cannot provide an automatic precise location and what approved alternative applies.\nCoordinate lawful testing. Never create an unannounced test call to 911. Arrange the method and timing with the service provider and appropriate emergency communications center, then verify the displayed calling number and location, two-way audio, routing, callback, and onsite notification. Document who authorized and observed the test.\nControl change. Make emergency-location review mandatory when phones, switches, trunks, carriers, network zones, room numbers, tenants, buildings, or notification groups change. A successful commissioning test years ago does not prove today’s location record.\n\nPost the facility address and concise location cues where a caller can read them under stress. Train reception and security not to hang up, transfer, or call the person placing the emergency call merely to investigate. Their job is to support the response: open the correct entrance, send a guide, control an elevator if authorized, bring emergency equipment, and preserve access for responders.\nAudit unmatched endpoints, duplicate or vague locations, test exceptions, failed notifications, and moves completed without 911 review. The acceptance record should prove the entire chain—from a person dialing three digits to public safety receiving a usable location and onsite staff taking a defined supporting action.\n\nOfficial references\n\nNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National 911 Program, Kari’s Law and RAY BAUM’s Act, updated March 8, 2023.\nFederal Communications Commission, Implementing Kari’s Law and Section 506 of RAY BAUM’s Act, Report and Order FCC 18-132.", "content_markdown": "## Source facts: emergency calling includes connection, location, and notification\n\nThe National 911 Program’s [Kari’s Law and RAY BAUM’s Act guidance](https://www.911.gov/issues/legislation-and-policy/kari-s-law-and-ray-baum-s-act/) explains two related federal requirements for multi-line telephone systems. Kari’s Law addresses direct dialing of 911 without an outside-line prefix and requires notification to a central location onsite or offsite when a 911 call is made. The notice is intended to include a callback number and information about the caller’s location.\n\nRAY BAUM’s Act addresses dispatchable location. The guidance defines this as a validated street address plus additional information, such as a suite, apartment, or similar detail, needed to locate the caller. In a campus or multi-story facility, a street address alone may not direct responders to the correct building, entrance, floor, wing, or room. Requirements vary for fixed, non-fixed, onsite, and offsite devices, and applicability depends on the system and relevant dates.\n\nThe Federal Communications Commission is the authority on federal compliance. State and local 911 rules, fire and building codes, elevator requirements, carrier capabilities, and the emergency communications center’s practices can add obligations. A business should obtain qualified legal and technical advice rather than treating this article as a compliance determination.\n\n## DSE recommendation: test the caller-to-responder path as a life-safety function\n\nCreate an emergency-calling register that covers more than ordinary desk phones. Include reception and guard stations, conference rooms, common-area and refuge-area phones, elevator or parking devices, analog lines, contact-center positions, softphones, shared phones, temporary spaces, remote users, and any security intercom that can place an outside call.\n\n- Assign a real location. For each endpoint or calling zone, record the civic address and the additional building, entrance, floor, suite, room, quadrant, or landmark responders need. Use names that match posted wayfinding and the information known to the responding agency. Do not rely on an internal extension label that public safety cannot interpret.\n\n- Verify direct dialing. Confirm that dialing 911 reaches the correct emergency communications center without a trunk prefix, authorization code, receptionist, or menu. Preserve 911 behavior when ordinary outbound calling restrictions are applied.\n\n- Design the onsite notice. Route the legally required notification to a continuously appropriate destination, not one unattended inbox. The recipient should see the callback and location, avoid delaying or intercepting the call, initiate the site response, direct responders to the caller, and protect sensitive incident information.\n\n- Test failure and mobility cases. Address a phone moved to another jack, a softphone used from home, Wi-Fi calling, loss of primary connectivity, power failure, failover carrier, changed tenant suite, renovated floor, night shift, and a notification recipient who is unavailable. Define which cases cannot provide an automatic precise location and what approved alternative applies.\n\n- Coordinate lawful testing. Never create an unannounced test call to 911. Arrange the method and timing with the service provider and appropriate emergency communications center, then verify the displayed calling number and location, two-way audio, routing, callback, and onsite notification. Document who authorized and observed the test.\n\n- Control change. Make emergency-location review mandatory when phones, switches, trunks, carriers, network zones, room numbers, tenants, buildings, or notification groups change. A successful commissioning test years ago does not prove today’s location record.\n\nPost the facility address and concise location cues where a caller can read them under stress. Train reception and security not to hang up, transfer, or call the person placing the emergency call merely to investigate. Their job is to support the response: open the correct entrance, send a guide, control an elevator if authorized, bring emergency equipment, and preserve access for responders.\n\nAudit unmatched endpoints, duplicate or vague locations, test exceptions, failed notifications, and moves completed without 911 review. The acceptance record should prove the entire chain—from a person dialing three digits to public safety receiving a usable location and onsite staff taking a defined supporting action.\n\n## Official references\n\n- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National 911 Program, [Kari’s Law and RAY BAUM’s Act](https://www.911.gov/issues/legislation-and-policy/kari-s-law-and-ray-baum-s-act/), updated March 8, 2023.\n\n- Federal Communications Commission, [Implementing Kari’s Law and Section 506 of RAY BAUM’s Act](https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-18-132A1_Rcd.pdf), Report and Order FCC 18-132." }, "json_ld": { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://dsesecurity.com/#organization", "name": "Detection Systems & Engineering", "alternateName": "DSE Security", "url": "https://dsesecurity.com/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://update.dsesecurity.com/assets/dse-logo-20260812.png?v=1.8.20" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://update.dsesecurity.com/#editorial-team", "name": "DSE Security Editorial Team", "url": "https://update.dsesecurity.com/", "parentOrganization": { "@id": "https://dsesecurity.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://update.dsesecurity.com/#website", "name": "DSE Updates", "alternateName": "DSE Security Knowledge Hub", "url": "https://update.dsesecurity.com/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "publisher": { "@id": "https://dsesecurity.com/#organization" }, "potentialAction": { "@type": "SearchAction", "target": { "@type": "EntryPoint", "urlTemplate": "https://update.dsesecurity.com/?q={search_term_string}" }, "query-input": "required name=search_term_string" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://update.dsesecurity.com/updates/make-onsite-911-calls-direct-locatable-locally-visible/", "url": "https://update.dsesecurity.com/updates/make-onsite-911-calls-direct-locatable-locally-visible/", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://update.dsesecurity.com/#website" }, "lastReviewed": "2026-08-11" }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://update.dsesecurity.com/updates/make-onsite-911-calls-direct-locatable-locally-visible/#breadcrumbs", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "DSE Updates", "item": "https://update.dsesecurity.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Make every onsite 911 call direct, locatable, and locally visible", "item": "https://update.dsesecurity.com/updates/make-onsite-911-calls-direct-locatable-locally-visible/" } ] }, { "@type": [ "Article", "TechArticle" ], "@id": "https://update.dsesecurity.com/updates/make-onsite-911-calls-direct-locatable-locally-visible/#article", "identifier": "https://update.dsesecurity.com/updates/make-onsite-911-calls-direct-locatable-locally-visible/", "url": "https://update.dsesecurity.com/updates/make-onsite-911-calls-direct-locatable-locally-visible/", "headline": "Make every onsite 911 call direct, locatable, and locally visible", "description": "A 911 call from a desk, lobby, elevator landing, guard post, or conference room should connect without a prefix, carry usable dispatchable location…", "abstract": "A 911 call from a desk, lobby, elevator landing, guard post, or conference room should connect without a prefix, carry usable dispatchable location, alert the right onsite responder, and survive moves and changes.", "articleBody": "Source facts: emergency calling includes connection, location, and notification\nThe National 911 Program’s Kari’s Law and RAY BAUM’s Act guidance explains two related federal requirements for multi-line telephone systems. Kari’s Law addresses direct dialing of 911 without an outside-line prefix and requires notification to a central location onsite or offsite when a 911 call is made. The notice is intended to include a callback number and information about the caller’s location.\nRAY BAUM’s Act addresses dispatchable location. The guidance defines this as a validated street address plus additional information, such as a suite, apartment, or similar detail, needed to locate the caller. In a campus or multi-story facility, a street address alone may not direct responders to the correct building, entrance, floor, wing, or room. Requirements vary for fixed, non-fixed, onsite, and offsite devices, and applicability depends on the system and relevant dates.\nThe Federal Communications Commission is the authority on federal compliance. State and local 911 rules, fire and building codes, elevator requirements, carrier capabilities, and the emergency communications center’s practices can add obligations. A business should obtain qualified legal and technical advice rather than treating this article as a compliance determination.\n\nDSE recommendation: test the caller-to-responder path as a life-safety function\nCreate an emergency-calling register that covers more than ordinary desk phones. Include reception and guard stations, conference rooms, common-area and refuge-area phones, elevator or parking devices, analog lines, contact-center positions, softphones, shared phones, temporary spaces, remote users, and any security intercom that can place an outside call.\n\nAssign a real location. For each endpoint or calling zone, record the civic address and the additional building, entrance, floor, suite, room, quadrant, or landmark responders need. Use names that match posted wayfinding and the information known to the responding agency. Do not rely on an internal extension label that public safety cannot interpret.\nVerify direct dialing. Confirm that dialing 911 reaches the correct emergency communications center without a trunk prefix, authorization code, receptionist, or menu. Preserve 911 behavior when ordinary outbound calling restrictions are applied.\nDesign the onsite notice. Route the legally required notification to a continuously appropriate destination, not one unattended inbox. The recipient should see the callback and location, avoid delaying or intercepting the call, initiate the site response, direct responders to the caller, and protect sensitive incident information.\nTest failure and mobility cases. Address a phone moved to another jack, a softphone used from home, Wi-Fi calling, loss of primary connectivity, power failure, failover carrier, changed tenant suite, renovated floor, night shift, and a notification recipient who is unavailable. Define which cases cannot provide an automatic precise location and what approved alternative applies.\nCoordinate lawful testing. Never create an unannounced test call to 911. Arrange the method and timing with the service provider and appropriate emergency communications center, then verify the displayed calling number and location, two-way audio, routing, callback, and onsite notification. Document who authorized and observed the test.\nControl change. Make emergency-location review mandatory when phones, switches, trunks, carriers, network zones, room numbers, tenants, buildings, or notification groups change. A successful commissioning test years ago does not prove today’s location record.\n\nPost the facility address and concise location cues where a caller can read them under stress. Train reception and security not to hang up, transfer, or call the person placing the emergency call merely to investigate. Their job is to support the response: open the correct entrance, send a guide, control an elevator if authorized, bring emergency equipment, and preserve access for responders.\nAudit unmatched endpoints, duplicate or vague locations, test exceptions, failed notifications, and moves completed without 911 review. The acceptance record should prove the entire chain—from a person dialing three digits to public safety receiving a usable location and onsite staff taking a defined supporting action.\n\nOfficial references\n\nNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National 911 Program, Kari’s Law and RAY BAUM’s Act, updated March 8, 2023.\nFederal Communications Commission, Implementing Kari’s Law and Section 506 of RAY BAUM’s Act, Report and Order FCC 18-132.", "datePublished": "2026-08-11T10:32:00+00:00", "dateModified": "2026-08-11T15:18:11+00:00", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@id": "https://update.dsesecurity.com/updates/make-onsite-911-calls-direct-locatable-locally-visible/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "isAccessibleForFree": true, "author": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "DSE Security Editorial Team", "url": "https://update.dsesecurity.com/#editorial-team" }, "publisher": { "@id": "https://dsesecurity.com/#organization" }, "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://update.dsesecurity.com/updates/make-onsite-911-calls-direct-locatable-locally-visible/#primaryimage", "url": "https://update.dsesecurity.com/assets/editorial/continuity-recovery-social-v2.jpg?v=1.8.20", "contentUrl": "https://update.dsesecurity.com/assets/editorial/continuity-recovery-social-v2.jpg?v=1.8.20", "width": 1200, "height": 630, "caption": "Make every onsite 911 call direct, locatable, and locally visible" }, "articleSection": [ "Business Continuity" ], "keywords": [ "Business Continuity", "Playbook", "Important priority" ], "genre": "Playbook", "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Business Continuity", "url": "https://update.dsesecurity.com/topic/business-continuity/" } ], "wordCount": 664, "timeRequired": "PT4M", "publishingPrinciples": "https://update.dsesecurity.com/updates/dse-updates-editorial-methodology/", "usageInfo": "https://update.dsesecurity.com/usage/", "copyrightHolder": { "@id": "https://dsesecurity.com/#organization" }, "copyrightNotice": "Copyright © 2026 Detection Systems & Engineering. 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