E911 FCC Compliance Requirements - Aqueduct Tech

In August 2019, the FCC adopted rules implementing two federal laws that strengthen emergency calling: Kari’s Law and Section 506 of RAY BAUM’S Act. Compliance dates for these laws initially went into effect in 2020 with the final compliance date coming up on January 6, 2022.

Aqueduct advises each organization to review their emergency calling solutions to make sure they’re compliant or with a third party to evaluate their solution. Below is a summary of the laws with their compliance dates.

Kari’s Law

Requires Multi-Line Telephone Systems (MLTS) platforms that are manufactured, imported, offered for first sale or lease, first sold or leased, or installed after February 16, 2020, to enable users to dial 9-1-1 directly, without having to dial a prefix to reach an outside line, and to provide notification (e.g., to a front desk or security office) when a 911 call is made.
Compliance deadline: February 17th, 2020

Ray Baum’s Act

All 911 calls must have what the FCC is referring to as a “dispatchable location.” Sec 506 of Ray Baumʼs Act defines “dispatchable location” as information adequate for emergency responders to find a person who has dialed 9-1-1.
Compliance deadlines: January 6, 2021, for fixed locations and January 6, 2022, for non-fixed locations such as softphones and mobile devices.

With the majority of organizations now having a hybrid workforce, employees working from multiple locations, be it the office, from home, or their local coffee shop presented a new challenge for E911 calling. Remote teleworkers and off-premise dynamic devices such as softphones or mobile devices that are used in multiple locations require a more complex solution that allows dynamic location updates utilizing an arrangement with a National Emergency Service Provider to perform location updates, Master Street Address (MSAG) address validation, and call completion.

If you have any questions or would like to review your emergency calling solution/and or compliance, please reach out to your Aqueduct Account Manager and one of our Collaboration engineers can assist you. Along with Federal compliances, Aqueduct can assist with any state-level compliance requirements that should be met which vary from state to state.