Telephone Service at U-M - 911 Overview

 

History

Thirty-five years ago, the University of Michigan installed a Central Office-grade telephone system to provide phone services to the University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor campus, U-M Hospital, and the U-M Flint and Dearborn campuses. This Private Branch eXchange (PBX) system provided internal U-M and external dialing capabilities while also exceeding required emergency services that complied with FCC regulations.

The FCC mandates that “911 service is a mandatory requirement when providing voice communication access to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Your customers may not ‘opt out’ of this emergency calling capability.” The University of Michigan met these regulations by integrating Public Safety Answer Point (PSAP) equipment with its analog phone system and operating a PSAP certified to answer 911 calls when made within the Master Street Address Guide (MSAG), a database that lists all streets and addresses for emergency services purposes.

Recent Past

In 2001 the university added Voice over IP (VoIP) telephone capabilities to provide phone services to locations where the university's copper telephone wiring did not reach. From that time we have operated both analog and VoIP telephone systems and have added measures to continue to meet the law’s requirements. For instance, having a VoIP telephone set means that users are able to freely move their own telephone desksets from one location to another without engaging ITS.

The flexibility to move between locations put the database location information at risk. In response, ITS built tools to determine location change information from the network switches to which telephones connect. The switch information provided the street address and floor location within 100 meters from where the call is placed, which exceeded the legal requirements. Software also sent location change information from the network switches on a nightly basis to the ITS Telecom team, who then updated the information in an internal database. From there, changes were sent to the Department of Public Safety and Security (DPSS) to update location information.

Two federal laws and one state law have since been enacted that have required additional measures:

• Kari’s law, enacted in 2018, requires direct 911 dialing from Multi-Line Telephone Systems (MLTS). It requires systems to support direct dialing of 911 without adding prefixes or access codes such as the number “9” to reach the nearest PSAP.  ITS had already implemented direct dialing of 911 and prefix-based dialing of 9911 to contact DPSS. The U-M PBX system recognizes both 911 and 9911 as a complete number rather than requiring individuals to dial additional digits. 

• The Michigan Public Act was issued in December 2011 to enforce laws around Enhanced 911 (E911). E911 provides the dispatchable location of a 911 caller. The MLTS must relay the location to the PSAP within 7,000 square feet of the 911 caller so that emergency responders can find them. The U-M telephone system meets E911 requirements and ties the location information to the calling number when a 911 call is placed. ITS provides location change information nightly to DPSS’ Automatic Line Identification (ALI) database. 

• In August of 2019, the FCC adopted Ray Baum’s Act, which ensures that “dispatchable location” is conveyed with 911 calls to appropriate dispatch centers, regardless of the technological platform used. Dispatchable location refers to a location that includes a validated street address of the caller and information such as suite, apartment, floor, and room level information necessary to identify the caller’s location adequately. U-M met this standard with the location information gathered through data network switches. 

These measures satisfied applicable laws and enabled U-M to deliver a reliable phone service, including emergency services. 

Transition to Cloud-Based Services

Moving to a cloud-based telephone system changes how U-M provides accurate location information when a 911 call is placed by U-M faculty or staff members. Every user will continue to be able to dial the digits 9-1-1 to reach the nearest public safety answering point.

Note: Michigan Medicine has its own telephone service. The following only applies to the small number of phones within Michigan Medicine that use Zoom Phone and are billed through ITS.

Registering Emergency Address Location

Zoom Phone prompts every user to register an emergency location address the first time they log in. Following the initial setup, when Zoom detects that the user has moved to a different IP address, the application displays a pop-up prompting them to update the emergency address. This encourages users to continually maintain accurate location data.

When faculty, staff or students use Zoom Phone, we strongly recommend that they take the two following steps to ensure that the greatest amount of information is available to help  determine their location accurately.

1. Enter your emergency address, and update it as you move your computer
2. Enable location services on your device

For those who take these two steps, E911 information will be determined based on the device being used and/or to what network it is connected.

MWireless:

When a laptop or desktop computer is connected to this U-M WiFi network on any of the three campuses, the location information of the WiFi Access Points will be used to determine the user location. The Zoom database has been pre-loaded and is consistently updated with AP location information.

Wired Deskset Phones:

When a physical deskset is connected to the wired network on any of the three campuses, the location information of the network switch port will be used to determine the user location. The Zoom database has been pre-loaded and is consistently updated with network switch port location information.

Mobile Phones:

When an individual dials 911 from the Zoom Phone application on their mobile phone, the phone will automatically use its native dialer, which uses its wireless service provider. The provider is responsible for ensuring the location is identified for their user.

Wired Laptop or Desktop Computers:

When a laptop or desktop computer is connected to the wired network on any of the three campuses, the location information (emergency address) entered in the Zoom application will be used to determine the user location. The Zoom emergency address has to be consistently updated by the user with current location information.

Note: If the location cannot be determined by any of the means described above, the call will be routed to the national 911 call center.

911 Moving Forward

As compared to a deskset, with a softphone service:

• location information is not as easily identified with people moving from location to location.
• users cannot always be relied upon to update their emergency location information, even when prompted.
• while technologies enable a softphone to provide accurate location information, it will likely not be as consistently accurate as a physical set. 

ITS guidance:  Use a physical deskset to call 911, if available. Otherwise, use a cell phone to place the call with its native dialer.

This documentation summarizes how location information is determined when an individual uses their Zoom application to make 911 calls.