What is Enhanced 911 (E911)?

Enhanced 911 service, or E911 for short, is a version of the traditional 911 emergency service that is designed to work with mobile devices and VoIP services. Traditional 911 service works over telephone lines, and 911 operators can use the physical address a call originated from to help dispatch responders in the case of an emergency. With mobile devices or VoIP services, pinpointing a caller’s exact location is more difficult, but enhanced 911 service works to identify the location quickly.

How Does Enhanced 911 Work?

For mobile devices, E911 uses GPS tracking and cell towers to triangulate a caller’s position. With VoIP services, special technology has been developed that can pinpoint the caller’s exact office location on the specific floor within a high-rise office building. Some E911 services can even notify on-site emergency personnel when an emergency occurs in a location with responders nearby.

Advantages & Benefits of Enhanced 911

Enhanced 911 services can benefit any organization that uses VoIP phones or offers mobile devices to remote employees. This service provides added protection to employees, whether they are working in the office or off-site. Many E911 services also offer transferring capabilities that allow users to update their locations in real-time directly from their company phones. The enhanced location features of E911 service also allow for rapid response times during an emergency, which can be critical for larger organizations where many individuals are on-site at any given time.

Types of Companies That Should Use Enhanced 911

While any organization without access to traditional 911 service should take steps to protect their employees, larger organizations with both internal and external users at their physical location should utilize Enhanced 911 service. Universities and hospitals, for example, have to protect all of their employees, but they also have many students, patients, parents, vendors, and guests on their campuses at any given time. In these situations, E911 services can be used to locate the exact location of any emergency and resolve the situation as fast as possible.