It’s one of those scenarios none of us thinks we’d find ourselves – an emergency situation at work that requires a 9-1-1 call to responders for immediate help.

Most enterprises have gotten much savvier and more advanced since Sept. 11, 2011. Nearly 10 years later, many enterprises now supply “dual mode” devices to employees – once they are inside the building they are switched over to WiFi (News - Alert) automatically, which means they are actually making the 911 call via the local network.

Pinpointing a victim’s location via the closest WiFi router is probably still more accurate than triangulating via the closest 3G/4G base station, according to industry experts.

The Federal Communications Commission recently took steps to improve the public’s ability to contact emergency services during times of crisis and to enable public safety personnel to obtain more accurate information regarding the location of the caller. The FCC (News - Alert) has bolstered Enhanced 911 (E911) location accuracy rules for wireless carriers in an effort to improve both 911 availability and E911 location determination for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services. 

Mobile phone users on WiFi networks can be anywhere on the network. If they dial 9-1-1, enterprises need accurate location information for emergency responders.

WiFi e911 is a software module on RedSky’s (News - Alert) E911 Manager platform that works with enterprise WiFi networks to track the location of WiFi phones in real time and provide routing instructions to the call server when a 9-1-1 call is made.

Further emphasizing the importance of enterprise E911 location accuracy, consider this scenario: if your company doesn’t manage E911 location information, that address might be the main billing address for your company’s account. Would that be enough for paramedics to find you in time? 

Even if your company manages E911 location information with the help of administrative personnel maintaining PS-ALI accounts or some third-party software products, the information could be inaccurate and help could be delayed, according to a recent article by Nick Maier, senior vice president of RedSky Technologies.

There is no more accurate way to get the precise location of a worker using a dual-mode phone than to use products like RedSky's E911 Manager with WiFi e911 (News - Alert). The software works with WiFi network systems from leading providers such as Cisco and Aruba to deliver the exact location of a 911 caller even when moving throughout the office. A traditional mobile network can't tell the difference of a caller moving from floor to floor in a high-rise. 

Real-time location information updates offer the best E911 protection for everyone using your enterprise network, Maier says.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2011, taking place Sept. 13-15, 2011, in Austin, Texas. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. To register, click here.