911 compliance for every seat on your platform.
Your customers run their phones on your platform. When one of them dials 911, the location, the callback number and the notification all depend on how your platform handles the call. 9Line Dispatch connects your Cisco BroadWorks platform to 911, delivers a dispatchable location down to the station, assigns a callback number at call time so you don’t need a DID for every seat, and routes the 911 center’s callback to the extension that called.
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Tell us about your BroadWorks environment, your customers and how they manage their locations today.
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The Challenge
A hosted platform carries every customer’s 911 calls.
An enterprise has one phone system to make compliant. A service provider has hundreds of customers on one platform, each with its own buildings, numbers and users, and every one of their 911 calls passes through infrastructure you run.
Every customer has its own locations
A dispatchable location has to be right for each station, not just the account’s billing address. Across hundreds of customers that means thousands of buildings, floors and rooms on one platform.
A number for every station costs money
The usual way to give every 911 call a callback number is to assign a public number to every station. That adds cost, renumbering work and numbers your customers never asked for.
Callbacks reach the wrong phone
Many systems send a customer’s main number on every outbound call. If a 911 call drops and the dispatcher calls back, they reach a receptionist or an auto attendant instead of the person who called.
Users don’t stay put
Softphones, Webex App users and remote workers change locations all the time, and since January 2022 non-fixed and off-premises devices need a location with every 911 call too.
Location updates can’t land on your NOC
If every move, add and change routes through your operations team, compliance becomes a ticket queue. Customers need to manage their own locations without adding to your workload.
The Rules
The rules that apply to hosted platforms.
The FCC defines multi-line telephone systems (MLTS) broadly: PBX, Centrex and VoIP, whether network-based or on premises. Hosted platforms such as BroadWorks are covered, and the rules apply to whoever installs, manages or operates the system, which is often the service provider. Two laws set the requirements.
Kari’s Law
Any MLTS manufactured, imported, sold, leased or installed after February 16, 2020 must let users dial 911 directly, with no prefix, and must notify a central location when 911 is dialed, where technically feasible, with a valid callback number and the caller’s location.
RAY BAUM’S Act
Every 911 call from an MLTS must carry a dispatchable location: the street address plus details such as floor and room. Fixed phones have needed it since January 6, 2021. Softphones, wireless handsets and off-premises devices have needed it since January 6, 2022, automated where technically feasible.
What is at stake
FCC penalties are $10,000 per violation, plus $500 for each day the violation continues. On a shared platform, one configuration gap can repeat across every customer and every station.
Who is responsible
When an installed system falls short, the rules presume the organization that manages it is responsible: the one that controls the system after installation, distributing lines, assigning numbers and handling configuration. On a hosted platform, that is often you.
Read the plain-English guide to Kari’s Law and RAY BAUM’S Act and what counts as a dispatchable location.
How 9Line Helps
Compliance for every station, without renumbering or new hardware.
9Line Dispatch for Cisco BroadWorks: compliant 911 on your platform
BroadWorks sends each 911 call with a location token through your SIP SBC to 9Line’s active-active session border controllers, over the internet and encrypted if you choose. 9Line adds the dispatchable location set for that device, assigns a temporary DID that stays with the call, and presents it to the right 911 center. It is fully cloud-based, supports any device registered to BroadWorks and needs no on-premises infrastructure. When 911 is dialed, Dispatch also notifies your customer’s designated contacts with the caller’s location, for Kari’s Law.
Explore Dispatch for BroadWorks →Callbacks that reach the caller, no DID per station
Because 9Line assigns the callback number at call time, your customers don’t need a public number on every station and nothing has to be renumbered. If the call drops and the 911 center calls back, 9Line converts the call to the original calling party and routes it back through your SBC to BroadWorks. 9Line is the only national 911 provider that supports PSAP callback to a BroadWorks extension, so the dispatcher reaches the person who called, not a main line.
Read about station-level accuracy →Locations your customers manage themselves
Multilevel administration lets you delegate location management to each customer’s admins or to end users, so dispatchable location stays current for fixed and nomadic users without adding to your operations workload. Webex App users set their location natively in the app’s E911 settings, Webex devices report it automatically through HELD+, and RFC 5985 desk phones through RFC HELD. Single Sign-On and APIs fit 9Line into the way you already provision.
Explore 9Line Dispatch →Your platform still carries the call, and the 911 center still sends help. 9Line makes sure the call arrives with a location responders can use and a callback number that reaches the caller.
Where It Applies
Built for the platforms and users you serve.
Hosted voice and UCaaS on BroadWorks
Station-level dispatchable location for every customer on your Cisco BroadWorks platform, assigned by device profile or user ID, for carriers in the United States and Canada.
Webex App users
Native E911 in the Webex App, with location management in the app, automatic switching to previously known addresses and a visual status confirmation.
Webex devices and desk phones
Automatic location for Webex hardware through HELD+, and standards-based RFC HELD for any RFC 5985-compliant physical phone, with no manual address entry.
Multi-tenant administration
Delegate location management to each customer’s admins or end users, and use Single Sign-On and APIs to keep 9Line in step with your own provisioning.
Remote and nomadic users
Users working from home or moving between offices carry their current location with every 911 call. Read more →
FAQ
Frequently asked questions.
Do Kari’s Law and RAY BAUM’S Act apply to hosted voice and UCaaS platforms?
Yes. The FCC defines a multi-line telephone system to include Centrex and VoIP, whether network-based or on premises, so hosted platforms such as Cisco BroadWorks are covered. The obligations fall on whoever installs, manages or operates the system, which on a hosted platform is often the service provider.
Do we need a DID for every station to support 911?
No. 9Line assigns a DID when the 911 call is made and keeps it allocated through the life of the call, so stations don’t need their own public numbers and nothing has to be renumbered.
What happens if a 911 call drops and the 911 center calls back?
The 911 center calls the temporary DID. 9Line converts the call to the original calling party number and sends it back through your SBC to BroadWorks, connecting the dispatcher to the original number or extension. 9Line is the only national 911 provider that supports PSAP callback to a BroadWorks extension.
Does 9Line support the Webex App and Webex devices on BroadWorks?
Yes. 9Line supports native E911 in the Webex App, where users manage their location in the app’s E911 settings. Webex hardware endpoints report their location automatically through HELD+, and any RFC 5985-compliant physical desk phone can use standards-based RFC HELD.
Who keeps station locations up to date?
You decide. 9Line’s multilevel administration lets you delegate location management to each customer’s admins or to end users, and HELD-capable devices update automatically, so dispatchable location stays current without adding to your operations workload.
How does 9Line connect to our network?
Your BroadWorks emergency calling configuration sends 911 calls, with a location token, through your SIP SBC to 9Line over the internet, encrypted if you choose, where highly available active-active session border controllers take them. 9Line is fully cloud-based, with no on-premises infrastructure.
Does 9Line handle Kari’s Law notification?
Yes. When 911 is dialed, 9Line Dispatch alerts the contacts each customer designates, with the caller’s location, so their on-site staff can meet responders. The call to the 911 center is never delayed.
Where does 9Line support service providers?
9Line Dispatch for Cisco BroadWorks helps carriers in the United States and Canada meet state and federal 911 requirements.
Further reading
More on 911 for service providers.
Get Started
Make 911 one less thing your platform has to build.
Talk with our team about your BroadWorks environment, your customers and how they manage locations today.