911 Services

VoIP-based communication technologies provide large enterprises with a number of benefits, including cost savings, flexibility and scalability. The only real complication with IP-based phone systems involves 911 calls. Emergency services personnel are unable to identify the exact location of employees who are accessing the corporate network to make calls from remote offices or their mobile phone.

To help eliminate this major safety issue, 911 services companies like 911 Enable (News - Alert) have created next-generation solutions that provide call routing, automated phone tracking and security desk notification, among other features. These solutions enable enterprises with deployments over multiple jurisdictions to ensure the safety of their employees, whether they are working for a remote office, their home or a client site.

911 Enable Director Lev Deich recently took part in an interview at Enterprise Connect (News - Alert) 2011 to provide a little bit more detail about what the company does and why its services are so necessary.

Deich explained to host Robert Ballister that the primary driver behind next-gen 911 services is state legislation. Each month, more and more state governments are requiring organizations to implement systems that specify the location of emergency calls, including the building, floor and room number.

Another issue driving the adoption of these solutions is the complexity of today's large scale organizations, says Deich. Employees are no longer chained to their desk. They are spread out across cities, counties and even states, creating a great need for a simple solution that is easy to deploy and manage.

"We understand that 911 is not necessarily the most important issue you have in your organization, but it's something that you want to deploy so that you can close your eyes and move on with your next project," Deich said.

"It's not important until you need it, and then it is the most important thing that you do," Ballister quickly responded.

Deich then walked viewers through a typical deployment, where 911 Enable's Emergency Gateway discovers the location of all enterprise phones based on their network identifiers. If employees ever make a 911 call from one of these devices, the Emergency Gateway (News - Alert) will automatically be routed to the appropriate PSAT. This allows the first responders to get to a 911 caller as soon as possible.

Click here to check out the complete video interview.

Beecher Tuttle is a TMCnet contributor. He has extensive experience writing and editing for print publications and online news websites. He has specialized in a variety of industries, including health care technology, politics and education. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Tammy Wolf