Frequently Asked Questions

If your organization currently uses a MLTS (Multi-Line Telephone System or VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol); the short answer is yes. The FCC requires all organizations who utilize those phone systems to comply with Kari's Law and The Ray Baum Act.

The most important effect caused by organizations that are not in compliance is that they are endangering their employees and customers. Other effects include civil liabilities if a tragedy were to occur along with various fines and litigation, such as a $10,000 fine along with $500 each day the organization is not in compliance.

Kari's Law has three components and went into effect February 17, 2020.

1. First, your phone system must allow a user to dial 911 without any prefix or access codes.
2. Next, a notification must be sent when 911 is called, including information about the caller, where they are, and a phone number to reach the 911 caller. Notifications are typically sent to a security guard or receptionist within the facility who can assist first responders find the 911 caller in an emergency.
3. Last, a valid callback number (not the main company phone number) must be provided when 911 is called. If a disconnect occurs, this callback number is required to reconnect the 911 dispatcher with the caller.

Ray Baum's Act requires a "dispatchable location" to be included when 911 is called. A dispatchable location begins with the building's street address plus additional information such as room number, floor number, and other relevant information to help first responders find the caller. 9Line inserts this additional information in real-time and displays this on the screen of the 911 dispatcher. This law took effect for on-premises phones on January 6, 2021.

Remote workers (work from home) must be covered with dispatchable location information as well, beginning January 6, 2022.

A dispatchable location begins with the building's street address plus additional information such as room number, floor number, and other relevant information to help first responders find the caller.

Cisco Emergency Responder alone does not achieve Ray Baum Act compliance since it does not send a dispatchable location on its own.

Mapped locations are only a part in this process of complying with Kari's Law and The Ray Baum Act. Other information such as being able to provide a dispatchable location is required as well.

The Cisco Jabber or Webex Teams dialer will recognize the emergency number, and the call will handoff to the native phone app. This is preferred as there is often beneficial information transmitted to the PSAP via your cellular phone network that is not available otherwise.

Yes there is. Running the following SQL query will show the location of off-premesis users for CER:

run sql SELECT OffPremisesLocationAssociation.did, \

       OffPremisesLocation.locationname, \

       OffPremisesLocation.username \

FROM OffPremisesLocationAssociation \

INNER JOIN OffPremisesLocation ON OffPremisesLocationAssociation.locationid=OffPremisesLocation.locationid

Which will present a table as such:

did        locationname         username

========== ==================== ========

3143107501 fire dept            mark

It is also possible to do a “run sql SELECT * FROM offpremiseslocation” to see all locations in the system for all users, whether they are associated or not.

An error shows up in CUCM’s E911Proxy service such as:

2021-12-07 16:40:45,676 ERROR [Thread-58] service.RestTemplateWrapper.isDeviceOffPremise - Error connecting to cerprovider: Host of origin may not be blank

We’ve seen this with varying steps leading up to the issue starting so we cannot claim to officially have a root cause, but CSCwa51071 is a bug that looks somewhat related and we are watching it.

Here’s the steps we’ve taken to get it working again:

1. We want to verify AXL credentials and permissions/role assignments (OFP requires a separate AXL account vs. the CTI account)
2. Verify the application server in CUCM has the correct AXL user assigned
3. Delete and re-add the application server
4. Restart the E911Proxy Service
5. Restart CER
6. Restart CUCM(s)