It seems that 911 is important enough that when setting up an Asterisk box, it should be tested. How do you go about testing 911 dialing without getting fined for calling for a non-emergency reason? Is there some circumstances where you can ask permission from the city ahead of time? I realize this may be a real stupid question but I have not seen this discussed and I am curious.
I don't think it's a stupid question at all. Testing 911 routing is very important, and it would suck to find out it didn't work when you needed it to. When I tested 911 at my wife's small business (we're on ZAP channels), I first called the non-emergency number for our local police department. Depending on the size of the city your in, they may tell you to call a different policy department where the 911 center for your area is located. I then called their non-emergency number and explained to them that we were installing a new phone system and needed to test 911 functionality. They said "No problem, let me transfer you to the radio room", I assume when they transfered me I was then talking to one of the 911 supervisors or something. I explained to them that I needed to make two test calls (one to 9,911 and one to 911 as I have our system setup) in order to test 911 functionality, and informed them that I would be calling back immediately after I hung up with them. They said "Sure, no problem." When you do the actual do the deed, identify who you are (full name), where you are calling from (business name, etc), and that this is a test call on a new phone system. They will usually read back to you the address they have on file for your phone number, and possibly some other information. If you are using a T1, PRI they will also verify some E-911 information you are sending (ANI? Help me out here someone...) Also, I think it's important that you close by telling them that you're done testing, or that you have one (or two, or X) more test calls to make. I tried to test out as much as I could in advance, so that I was fairly certain I wouldn't have to call them more then twice -- even though they know it's a test call, they may still be a little "short" with you on call #2 since I'm sure they have plenty of real emergencies to deal with. :) Along those same lines, use some judgement as to when you perform your testing. For instance, testing during severe weather, or during a hurricane probably wouldn't be a good idea. Along those same lines (and some what less obvious ;), you may NOT want to test on a Friday or Saturday night if it could be avoided. I actually used 411 while I was doing the initial setting up and testing to make sure I got everything right, then when I was 99.99% sure it would work, I switched the 4 to a 9 and tested it for real. Hope that helps! Swannie On Jul 17, 2006, at 1:05 AM, voiplist wrote:> It seems that 911 is important enough that when setting up an Asterisk > box, it should be tested. > > How do you go about testing 911 dialing without getting fined for > calling for a non-emergency reason? > > Is there some circumstances where you can ask permission from the city > ahead of time? > > I realize this may be a real stupid question but I have not seen this > discussed and I am curious. > _______________________________________________ > --Bandwidth and Colocation provided by Easynews.com -- > > asterisk-users mailing list > To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
On Jul 16, 2006, at 11:05 PM, voiplist wrote:> It seems that 911 is important enough that when setting up an Asterisk > box, it should be tested. > > How do you go about testing 911 dialing without getting fined for > calling for a non-emergency reason? > > Is there some circumstances where you can ask permission from the city > ahead of time? > > I realize this may be a real stupid question but I have not seen this > discussed and I am curious.Actually, not stupid at all. I know in one case I have configured 911 to dial on a 7 digit number for the local police, and I spoke to the police to let them know this is my setup. In other words, when I dial 911 from my house (shoreline, Washington state USA) I don't want it to dial 911 from my office (FXO is in Seattle) as that would be calling the wrong police to the wrong address. I requested from the Shoreline police that they make a record of the fact that calls to them from my seattle number are actually coming from my shoreline address. Hopefully I never need to test this under fire...
I call and immediately identify this as a test call. I state the following. My Nane, and the fact that I am the PBX tech, (engineer confuses them). I ask them to confirm my address and call back number I provide to them. If all is OK I thank them and hang up. I do not think it is a false call if you identify it as such and give the information. I once was almost charged with a false 911 call, I had added a daemon to call my pager with a server number followed by 911 when a particular server went down. It was a typo and not only did the server number NOT appear but it was dialing 911 instead of my pager. I get a call from the building security that my office door was open and that there were firemen and police inside. I rushed over, thinking the worst and while I was there trying to figure out why they were there they get another call from dispatch stating that the person was calling again. After asking the dispatcher the phone number (ANI) that was calling, I disco'ed the modem. Thank god I was using POTS at the time. I acted stupid and told them it must have been a virus or something. I until this day had kept quiet, I hope the statue of limitations has passed!!!! Alex -----Original Message----- From: asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of voiplist Sent: Monday, July 17, 2006 2:05 AM To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion Subject: [asterisk-users] Testing 911? It seems that 911 is important enough that when setting up an Asterisk box, it should be tested. How do you go about testing 911 dialing without getting fined for calling for a non-emergency reason? Is there some circumstances where you can ask permission from the city ahead of time? I realize this may be a real stupid question but I have not seen this discussed and I am curious. _______________________________________________ --Bandwidth and Colocation provided by Easynews.com -- asterisk-users mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
This is the tact that I take, and it's never been a problem for us. Regards, - Brad -----Original Message----- From: asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Alexander Lopez Sent: Monday, July 17, 2006 2:47 AM To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion Subject: RE: [asterisk-users] Testing 911? I call and immediately identify this as a test call. I state the following. My Nane, and the fact that I am the PBX tech, (engineer confuses them). I ask them to confirm my address and call back number I provide to them. If all is OK I thank them and hang up. I do not think it is a false call if you identify it as such and give the information. I once was almost charged with a false 911 call, I had added a daemon to call my pager with a server number followed by 911 when a particular server went down. It was a typo and not only did the server number NOT appear but it was dialing 911 instead of my pager. I get a call from the building security that my office door was open and that there were firemen and police inside. I rushed over, thinking the worst and while I was there trying to figure out why they were there they get another call from dispatch stating that the person was calling again. After asking the dispatcher the phone number (ANI) that was calling, I disco'ed the modem. Thank god I was using POTS at the time. I acted stupid and told them it must have been a virus or something. I until this day had kept quiet, I hope the statue of limitations has passed!!!! Alex -----Original Message----- From: asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of voiplist Sent: Monday, July 17, 2006 2:05 AM To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion Subject: [asterisk-users] Testing 911? It seems that 911 is important enough that when setting up an Asterisk box, it should be tested. How do you go about testing 911 dialing without getting fined for calling for a non-emergency reason? Is there some circumstances where you can ask permission from the city ahead of time? I realize this may be a real stupid question but I have not seen this discussed and I am curious. _______________________________________________ --Bandwidth and Colocation provided by Easynews.com -- asterisk-users mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users _______________________________________________ --Bandwidth and Colocation provided by Easynews.com -- asterisk-users mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users The contents of this e-mail are intended for the named addressee only. It contains information that may be confidential. Unless you are the named addressee or an authorized designee, you may not copy or use it, or disclose it to anyone else. If you received it in error please notify us immediately and then destroy it.
voiplist wrote:> It seems that 911 is important enough that when setting up an Asterisk > box, it should be tested. > > How do you go about testing 911 dialing without getting fined for > calling for a non-emergency reason? > > Is there some circumstances where you can ask permission from the city > ahead of time?As others have posted, test calls are allowed but the 911 center would prefer they be completed during non-peak times. The only way to know what their non-peak periods are is to give them a call on the non-emergency number and ask.
I do it all the time, after I finish installing a PBX (asterisk or other PBX) I dial 911 and say: Hi this is a test call, I'm a PBX tech, just finished an installation and just wanted to make sure that 911 works. Then I ask the operator on the other end of the line to confirm the e911 info he has with me, to make sure that it matches the Address and phone number that I am realy calling from. On 7/17/06, voiplist <gotvoip@gmail.com> wrote:> It seems that 911 is important enough that when setting up an Asterisk > box, it should be tested. > > How do you go about testing 911 dialing without getting fined for > calling for a non-emergency reason? > > Is there some circumstances where you can ask permission from the city > ahead of time? > > I realize this may be a real stupid question but I have not seen this > discussed and I am curious. > _______________________________________________ > --Bandwidth and Colocation provided by Easynews.com -- > > asterisk-users mailing list > To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users >