[Asterisk-Users] RE: E911 Testing !

[Jason Kawakami]

-----Original Message-----

I believe the 911 is a serious issue if one does an asterisk installation in
an office. How do you test 911? Won't they arrest you or something for
dialing 911 for no reason and talking to one of their agents who could have
taken a more important call?

-speaking from 10+ years of installations, dial 911 and tell the operator
your name, who you are with, and that you are testing a new phone system.
Confirm with them that the telephone number and address they have in their
system is correct, say thank you and hang-up.  

On occasion, you get a surly operator who has had a bad day but crap, if you
had their job, your days may not be so good either.
 
 
On the other hand what an emergency comes up (like someone got seriously
injured) and on top of that asterisk crashed all of a sudden bringing the
whole office PBX down. Since it would be not be possible to place a call and
emergency matter becomes more serious, who would be held responsible? The
person who installed the PBX for not implementing a redundant and reliable
system?

-document that on 'X' date and 'Y' time, you tested and confirmed that 911
access was functioning and have the client sign off on the installation.
After that, the system is theirs.  

Always test emergency services access for premises equipment based solutions
unless you have signed documentation from the client that they do not want
911 access out of their system!

Jason Kawakami
www.optellabs.com
Salt Lake City, UT