Whether it’s a school, office building or large-scale retailer, organizations realize that nothing is more paramount than public safety and emergency preparedness. That’s why more companies and facilities are looking to deploy Enhanced 9-1-1, or “E911” services.

 

While competition among E911 service providers is fierce, providers seem to agree on one fact – that each player offers various E911 hosted solutions. As a result of 911 ETC’s longstanding expertise offering a hosted E911 solution, the company has acquired additional customers, including some who previously used competitors’ solutions, officials said.

 

Everett, Wash.-based 911 ETC has offered E911 hosted solutions since its inception in 1997. Unlike a boxed solution, 911 ETC’s hosted solution offers insurance for unexpected issues that may occur along the way.

 

“911 ETC has never lost a customer to a competitor, and yet we regularly have new customers who seek us out who currently have a competitor’s solution in place,” Mike Anderson, national sales manager, 911 ETC, said. “For a number of different reasons, the solution is not working for them and they’re seeking out a different option.”

 

For example, HSBC paid a large amount of money for a boxed 911 solution, but didn’t realize the firm needed to perform error reconciliation on the data, which required ongoing internal management and training. And within a year or two, the company’s database was a disaster. Company officials discovered the problem when an employee dialed 911, and the wrong address was attached to the phone station because no one performed the necessary, ongoing maintenance on the box the company bought. As a result, HSBC switched over to 911 ETC’s hosted solution.

 

Other customers, including TrueValue Hardware and Chase, sought upgrades to their systems, which required new E911 boxes. But the cost to switch over to 911 ETC’s service compared to upgrading their existing box solution from a competitor to integrate with the upgrade was far less.

 

Organizations that are considering implementing E911 services often underestimate the amount of time it takes to implement an E911 solution. The implementation is not always easy, and often businesses require very different services to meet their specific needs. 911 ETC has gained many new customers who have tried to administer E911 changes in-house and soon discovered that the task was overwhelming.

 

Beyond the time requirements, companies that want to add E911 hosted solutions need to consider adding a full-time employee to handle regular E911 maintenance. What’s more, organizations need to handle possible liability risks for unresolved errors as well as employee turn-over and training issues.

 

911 ETC E911 hosted solutions can help. The company offers full-time customer support with a trouble ticketing process, ongoing scheduled database management services, synchronized error correction and status reconciliation and full data back-ups. In addition, 911 ETC’s service features data file processing logs and notifications, testing support and an E911 database design consulting.

 

Unlike its competitors, 911 ETC’s Software-as-a-Service doesn’t require onsite equipment. And if the system software needs to be upgraded, 911 ETC can rewrite its Auto-MAC loader to accommodate the new technology. Other providers often require a costly PBX (News - Alert) adjunct software upgrade or complete box replacement.

 

911 ETC also has limited points of failure and it eliminates the need for an additional E911 server/data collector. The cost-effective solution is well suited for businesses of all sizes and the service only requires a monthly fee for ongoing maintenance support. 



Amy Tierney is a Web editor for TMCnet, covering business communications Her areas of focus include conferencing, SIP, Fax over IP, unified communications and telepresence. Amy also writes about education and healthcare technology, overseeing production of e-Newsletters on those topics as well as communications solutions and UC. To read more of Amy's articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Amy Tierney