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
- Register your service address under 911 address in your workspace. This is where your phones physically are - not your billing address. It is the address a dispatcher will be sent to, so a PO box or an accountant's office would send help to the wrong place.
- Check that your workspace says "911 is active." Registering an address is not the same as 911 working: your carrier has to confirm the address and switch on emergency service, which takes time. The 911 address page tells you which state you are in.
- Verify by dialing 933 - a test line that reads your registered address back to you without contacting a dispatcher. If it reads the wrong address, fix it before you rely on it.
- Keep another phone for emergencies and tell everyone who uses your line (employees, family, guests) where to find it.
If you move, you must update the address
Your TimberSwitch number travels with your internet connection, but your registered address does not follow it. If you move offices, take a desk phone home, or use the softphone from somewhere else, 911 will send help to the address on file - not where you actually are. Update it under Settings before you rely on it from a new location.
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
When you register a service address we store it and send it to our carrier to be validated against the emergency database. Validation rejects an address that is not a real, dispatchable location, and your Settings page shows you the result rather than leaving you to assume it worked.
Until our carrier confirms that address and switches emergency service on for your number, we block 911 rather than let the call fail silently. You get a message telling you to hang up and dial 911 from a mobile phone or landline. The 933 readback test behaves the same way: there is nothing to read back until an address is registered and confirmed.
Whenever anyone dials 911 from your workspace we email everyone with administrative authority over it, whether or not the call was allowed through. That is the on-site notification Kari's Law requires, and we send it for blocked attempts too, because someone in your organization tried to reach emergency services and the people responsible for that workspace need to know.
Liability
911 through TimberSwitch depends on things outside our control: your internet connection, our carrier, and the accuracy of the address you registered. To the extent permitted by law, we are not liable for personal injury, property damage, or other consequences arising from an emergency call that fails, is delayed, or reaches the wrong dispatcher. That includes calls attempted before 911 is active on your number, and calls placed from somewhere other than the address on file. It is why the backup phone above is not optional advice. 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.