Having an employee in medical distress is a situation no company wants to experience, but every company must prepare for. When emergencies occur, we instinctively call 911 for help and expect to connect with emergency services. But what if your organization has multi-line phone systems, remote staff, or uses softphones? Calling 911 may not necessarily be so straightforward. Here are two essential laws you need to know when preparing your business for a potential 911 situation.
For this blog, 911 is defined as the ability to dial this number from any device without obstacles. Enhanced 911, or E911, is the ability to determine the exact location the emergency call is coming from.
The laws to be familiar with are Kari’s Law & RAY BAUM Act. Both are enforced by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and require businesses to support the following:
As the pandemic pushed organizations to deploy remote workers, and a more distributed workforce is becoming the norm, some organizations could be in violation of these laws. As implemented by the FCC, both laws impact any company of any size using MLTS that was manufactured, sold, or installed on or AFTER February 17, 2020. Some common MLTSs include Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP aka softphones), internet-based Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS), and mobile text devices.
As 2022 begins, businesses that do not comply with Kari’s Law and RAY BAUM’s Act may face FCC penalties and hefty fines that steadily increase each day the business remains uncompliant. Carefully consider the following:
An emergency can be a chaotic time, and our instinct is to pick up the closest voice-capable device and dial 9-1-1 for help. It’s crucial for businesses to understand these regulations and eliminate any barrier that makes it difficult for staff to connect and receive emergency services. Please follow this link to read more details on Kari's Law and RAY BAUM's Act.
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