Is it good practice/good etiquette to test E911?

[Dave_N]

Hi,

I am about to to be ported over. I think that just before or just after my port is complete I might want to test my 911 service. For conventional 911 service, this is not usually done.

Anyone have any insights about testing this for VOIPo home service?

Thanks,

[Montano]

Call your local 911's NON-emergency number, and ask them if it's OK to make a test call to check your VoIP line.

[Dave_N]

Call your local 911's NON-emergency number, and ask them if it's OK to make a test call to check your VoIP line.

Sorry to be thick, but how would I find my local 911's non-emergency number? Do you mean my police's non-emergency number? That one, I know.

Thanks,

[Montano]

If your local police dept is who handles 911 calls in your area, then yes.

[dswartz]

What I did: called non-emergency number, told them I had gotten Vonage (that's all they would have heard of LOL) and asked if I could test 911 (mid-morning). They said sure. I did. It worked.

[scott2020]

That is what I was going to mention. I spoke with the 911 manager for my area who I know, and he said it would be best to contact the county PD non-emergency number to clear it first. That's cool because I have wanted to test for a long time!

[fisamo]

In my area, the local PD does NOT handle 911 calls--there is a county-wide dispatch office. Not knowing that at the time, I called the local PD, and they gave me the number to dial.

When I called to inquire, the person answering the phone said, "911, can you please state the nature and location of your emergency?" Turns out the 'back line' for our PSAP (dispatch) is the same as the 10-digit non-emergency-trunk number. (ie. the number you'd set to dial 911 from your ATA's dial plan if your provider doesn't offer 911 service) When I told them why I was calling, they acted as if they got this type of request all the time and that calling back via 911 was OK at that time. Called, and it worked fine, both with Voipo and CallVantage.

[NY Tel Guy]

What I did: called non-emergency number, told them I had gotten Vonage (that's all they would have heard of LOL) and asked if I could test 911 (mid-morning). They said sure. I did. It worked.I did something slightly different, I called them and told my wife to start screaming at the top of her lungs in the background so we could really test the service.;)

Just a little Thursday morning humor from the east coast......

[abward]

fisamo,

Just to be clear, so the Wake county dispatch office sees your E911 address when you call 911 from your VOIPo phone? I am curious, since I think I live close to you.

[bretski]

Wow.

Thanks for posting this, and prompting me to test. We gots problems at bretski's house... :/

I called the local PD, and got connected to dispatch. Asked if it was ok to test, they gave me the go-ahead. When I call 911, I get a ring, then dead air. They got my call, but no voice on their end either. The good news is that my caller ID showed up for them, so they called back. The other odd thing is that their caller ID showed up for me with the wrong area code, which makes the incoming call look like a residential caller.

Ticket-time, eh???

[fisamo]

As I recall, my address did come up, but it was early in the beta.

One thing that might be different in our cases, though, is that I live in Apex, so my 911 calls will get routed to the county dispatch. I believe Cary operates its own PSAP, so the calls may actually go to different places. There's no harm in testing to be sure--just make sure you call Cary PD first and clear it with them. :)

PS: We do live pretty close together--1.7 miles as the crow flies, about 4.6 miles by road (according to Google Maps).

PS2: No, I'm not stalking you. :)