How VoIP 911 differs from a traditional phone line
On a traditional landline, dialing 911 connects you to the local Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) and your physical address is automatically delivered to the dispatcher because it's tied to the copper pair. That's not how VoIP works. Your TimberSwitch number lives in the cloud and travels with you wherever your internet connection goes — so we have to tell the dispatcher where you are by other means.
What you must do
- Use another phone for emergencies. A mobile phone or traditional landline routes 911 to your local dispatcher with your location. TimberSwitch does not.
- Tell everyone who uses your line (employees, family, guests) that they cannot rely on TimberSwitch to reach 911, and where to find an alternate phone.
When will 911 be available?
E911 support — where you register a service address that we forward to our carrier's emergency database so 911 reaches your local dispatcher — is on our roadmap but is not available today. We will update this notice and tell customers before we turn it on. Until then, treat TimberSwitch as a phone system that cannot place emergency calls.
Backup recommended
Always keep an alternate way to dial 911 — a cellphone, a corded landline, or a traditional analog phone — and make sure others on your line know where to find it.
Your acknowledgement
When you sign up for TimberSwitch you check a box confirming you have read and understood this notice. We log that acknowledgement with a timestamp and the IP you used. By using TimberSwitch you reaffirm this acknowledgement on every call.
What we do on our side
Today, nothing for 911 — we have not yet enabled E911 registration. No service address is collected or sent to our carrier's emergency database, so a 911 call placed through TimberSwitch will not reach your local dispatcher with your location. When we build E911 this section will spell out exactly what we forward and when.
Liability
Because TimberSwitch does not currently provide 911 access, we are not liable for personal injury, property damage, or other consequences of an emergency call attempted through TimberSwitch, except to the extent required by law. See our Terms of Service for the full liability terms.
Questions
Email [email protected] with anything unclear about this notice or your E911 registration status.