Communications is an important part of our everyday lives, and E911 has become an integral part to any communications solution. In the business world, optimal communications are essential to ensure quality interactions, protect business opportunities, and provide efficient and accurate E911 services. With so much at stake, it is imperative that voice management take priority within the enterprise or SMB. For those interested in the latest announcements in this space, Enterprise Connect (News - Alert) provided the perfect platform. Enterprise Connect 2011 took place Feb. 28 – March 3 at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center in Orlando.

Among the exhibits was 911 ETC, which announced that SoftLoc, an application introduced in 2010 that requires soft phone users to provision their location information for emergency services, is now compatible with the Mac operating system and is being implemented nationwide with a Fortune 100 beta client.

911 ETC also took some time from its big announcement to talk with the press, as Bill Svien, 911 ETC’s vice president of Corporate Strategy, sat down with Doug Green, publisher of Telecom Reseller (News - Alert), to conduct a podcast. As Green begins his podcast, Svien discusses that in a traditional phone call there is a one-to-one relationship, with a user’s location relatively easy to identify.

However, today’s legislation requires organizations over a certain size or purchasing a new PBX (News - Alert) to implement an E911 hosted solution for the safety of their employees, students and visitors. An emergency phone call in the enterprise is no longer considered a one-to-one relationship, especially with an increase in remote offices and workers.

Green comments in his publication of the podcast session, “As phone calls become sessions, and as the enterprise focuses more and more on the network, including the cloud, 911ETC continues to evolve its products and services to match the on-going need of all enterprises, however deployed, to offer accurate 911 information whenever and wherever needed.”

It is well recognized that 911 ETC has been a part of E911 revolution from the start, and Svien reflects on the industry changes over the past 10 years, “If we look at the difference between the older version of E911, which depended on an on-going database and a recurring change of information or location information based on a sole DID, kind of a one-for-one relationship. Now, what we are seeing is that the requirement of mobility within the enterprise as well as the mobility of users outside the campus environment requires a different type of discovery of where these end-users are actually located so databases are one side of the equation and transaction of the call is another side of the equation.”

911 ETC is aware of the E911 hosted solution hurdles an enterprise fears, and advises that you make yourself aware of state legislation and the benefits an E911 hosted solution can bring to your enterprise, especially with increasing remote capabilities.