Specifications

Emergency 911 Operations
B – 4 ShoreTel, Inc.
Feature Operation
Digit Collection for 911 Calls
A ShoreTel user who dials 911 or <access_code> + 911 will be routed to a 911-capable
trunk.
• If the user dials an access code followed by 911, digit collection terminates
immediately and the call is routed to a 911-capable trunk.
• If the user forgets to dial an access code before dialing 911, the system waits five
seconds before routing the call to a 911-capable trunk. This pause has been
introduced to eliminate accidental calls to 911. Most systems use an access code of
9 for outbound calls, making it easy for a user to mistakenly dial 911 on a long-
distance call by adding an extra 1 before the area code (for example, if he or she
dialed the following number 9-1-1-408-555-1212). If additional digits are entered
after 9-1-1 during the five-second timeout period, the system will consider it a
dialing error and the calling party will hear a reorder tone.
Ensuring Proper Routing of 911 Calls
Call permissions are ignored when a 911 call is placed to ensure that a user can dial 911
from any extension on the system, regardless of the permissions associated with that
user or the extension from which he or she is calling.
Once the user dials 911, the call leaves the extension, arrives at the switch, and is
routed to any available 911-capable trunk at the originating site. If the user belongs to a
user group that does not have access to any 911-capable trunks, then the call will not
be placed.
WARNING When adding users to the ShoreTel system, make sure each user is placed in
a user group that has access to a 911-capable trunk group. If a user is placed
in a user group that does not have access to a 911-capable trunk (e.g. a user
group with long-distance trunks only), members of that user group will not
be able to dial 911, and they will get reorder tone when attempting to do so.
To better understand this, you must realize that users are placed into user groups when
added to the ShoreTel system. The user groups are assigned to trunk groups, and these
trunk groups have different capabilities, one of which is the ability to place 911 calls. If
a user belongs to only one user group, that group must have access to a 911-capable
trunk. It is crucial that each site have at least one 911-capable trunk.
For details on adding users to a user group that has access to a 911-capable trunk, see
“User Groups” on page 10-14.
Always confirm with your service provider that a trunk supports 911 calls. In some
instances, this may not be the case (for example, with long-distance trunks). If the
trunk does not support 911, be sure to un-check 911 as an available service in the
associated trunk group in Director.
If you have mistakenly set up a site that has no available 911-capable trunks, 911 calls
will be routed to the 911-capable trunk at the proxy site if one has been designated. By
routing the call to a proxy site, the ShoreTel system is making a “last ditch” attempt to
place the 911 call. This failover behavior can be unreliable and should not be relied
upon to ensure that users on your system can dial 911. If you use the "parent as proxy"
configuration, make sure the boundary between the two sites never traverses
geographic locations that would send a 911 call to the incorrect 911 service provider.
For example, if improperly configured, a caller in Houston could pick up a phone, dial
911, and reach a 911 service in Boston because the system was configured to have the
Boston site as the parent of the Houston site with "parent as proxy" checked.