911 on an internet phone: how it works and its limits

AIMERICA is an internet phone service. 911 works, with differences from a landline or a mobile that you need to know. This is the notice Canada's telecom regulator asks every internet phone provider to give its customers; it is just as true in the United States.

How a 911 call works on AIMERICA

1. Every AIMERICA phone number has an emergency address registered with our carrier: the company address you gave at signup, or the address a person set under Settings, Safety, My 911 address. We re-check that registration every hour.
2. When you dial 911 from the web or desktop app or a desk phone, the call goes out on a line that has an address registered, and that line's number is sent as the callback number.
3. The 911 centre sees the registered address and the callback number. If the call drops, they call that number back.
4. At the same time, the owners and administrators of your company, and the emergency contacts your company named, are told that 911 was dialled, by whom, from which line, and where that person said they are.

The limits

• The address must be right. Help is sent to the registered address. If you moved, or you are working somewhere else today, update your address in Settings first, and always tell the operator where you are.
• If the address is missing or wrong, the call may reach a national emergency call centre rather than your local one. The operator there will ask where you are and pass the call on. That takes longer than a call from a landline.
• No internet, no power, no 911. An internet phone does not work during an internet or power outage, or when your device is off or out of battery. Keep a mobile phone or a landline for emergencies.
• On a mobile phone, the AIMERICA app hands a 911 call to the phone's own dialler, which uses the phone's own location and network.
• Toll-free numbers cannot carry an emergency address; a 911 call from a company that has only toll-free numbers still goes out, without an address.
• Do not dial 911 to test. In the United States, 933 reads back the address and number the 911 centre would see. In Canada there is no test number; check your address in Settings instead.

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