Kari's Law requires that anyone can dial 911 directly from a multi-line phone system, no "dial 9 first," and that the system sends an on-site notification (such as an email or screen alert) when a 911 call is placed, so the front desk knows help was called. It is named for Kari Hunt, whose daughter could not reach 911 from a hotel room phone that required a prefix.
RAY BAUM'S Act (Section 506) requires that a dispatchable location travel with the 911 call: not just a street address, but the information responders need to find the caller, like the floor or suite number. This applies to fixed phones and, in phases, to non-fixed devices like softphones that move around.
What this means for your business
If your phone system requires a prefix to reach 911, does not notify anyone on-site, or sends 911 calls with a stale or headquarters-only address, it is out of compliance, and more importantly, responders can be sent to the wrong building. Every extension, including remote workers' devices, needs a current dispatchable location.
On a well-run modern system this is handled at setup: 911 dials directly from every device, on-site notifications are configured, and dispatchable addresses are registered per extension, suite numbers included, with a process for updating them when people move. Whoever provides your phones should be able to show you exactly where those settings live; if they cannot, that is a finding. Healthcare settings have extra wrinkles, covered on our medical practice page.
The compliance dates that already passed
These laws are not upcoming: Kari's Law applies to multi-line phone systems manufactured, installed, or upgraded after February 16, 2020, and RAY BAUM'S Act dispatchable-location requirements phased in during January 2021 for fixed devices and January 2022 for non-fixed devices like softphones and mobile apps. A business installing or reconfiguring a phone system today is squarely inside both.
A practical compliance checklist
- 911 connects with no prefix, from every device, including softphones and lobby phones.
- A 911 call triggers an on-site notification (email, SMS, or screen alert) to front desk or security, with the caller's location.
- Every extension has a dispatchable location: street address plus floor, suite, or room, not just a headquarters address.
- Remote and hybrid workers' devices carry their current address, with a process for updating it when they move.
- Locations are re-verified after every office move or reshuffle, the step everyone forgets.
How systems fail these rules in practice
The classic failures: a system migrated from an old PBX that still expects "dial 9 for an outside line"; branch offices whose calls present the headquarters address to dispatchers; softphones registered to wherever the company was when the account was created; and nobody receiving the on-site notification because it was configured to an inbox that no longer exists. Every one of these is invisible until the worst possible moment, which is why per-extension registration in the portal, reviewed at every move, is the design rather than an option here.
When you move offices, updating E911 addresses should be on the moving checklist next to forwarding the mail. Two minutes in the portal; potentially the most important setting in the system.
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