911 & VoIP

Legal

Customer notice of 911 and E911 service limitations

PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY. AS A USER OF BANDWIDTH SESSION INITIATION PROTOCOL (“SIP”) BASED VOICE OVER INTERNET PROTOCOL (“VOIP”) SERVICES, YOU ARE REQUIRED TO AGREE THAT YOU HAVE READ AND UNDERSTOOD THE LIMITATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE 911 AND E911 EMERGENCY SERVICES AVAILABLE THROUGH THE BANDWIDTH CALLING SERVICES. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE, YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO USE ANY BANDWIDTH CALLING SERVICES.

Definitions

Terms capitalized when used within this document have the following meanings:

“911 Services” means functionality that allows end users to contact emergency services by dialing the digits 911.

“Enhanced 911 Service” or “E911” means the ability to route an emergency call to the designated entity authorized to receive such calls, which in many cases is a Public Safety Answering Point (“PSAP”), serving the Customer’s registered or user-provided address and to deliver the user’s telephone number and registered address information automatically to the emergency operator answering the call.

“Basic 911 Service” means the ability to route an emergency call to the designated entity authorized to receive such calls serving the Customer’s registered or user-provided address. With basic 911, the emergency operator answering the phone will not have access to the caller’s telephone number or address information unless the caller provides such information verbally during the emergency call.

With Enhanced 911 Service (“E911”), when a caller from your registered location dials the digits 911 from any Bandwidth offered calling service that is associated with a phone number and a properly registered address, the phone number and address are automatically presented to the local emergency center serving the location. Emergency operators will have access to this information regardless of whether the caller is able to verbally provide such information.

With Basic 911 Service, when a caller from your registered location dials the digits 911, the call is sent to the local emergency center serving that location. Operators answering the call will not have automatic access to the caller’s call-back telephone number or the associated registered address, even if that address has been properly registered, because with Basic 911 Service the emergency center is not equipped to receive, capture or retain the telephone number associated with the Bandwidth calling service or the registered address. Accordingly, callers must be prepared to provide both call-back and address information. If the call is dropped or disconnected, or if the caller is unable to speak, the emergency operator answering the call will not be able to call the caller back or dispatch help to the caller’s address if call-back and address information has not been provided by the caller.

Emergency service disclosure applicable to all calling services offered by Bandwidth

The limitations detailed below are applicable to all of Bandwidth’s calling services (which include but are by no means limited to: Phonebooth OnDemand, SIP Trunking, SIP Origination/Termination, Boxset, FreePBX/SipStation, and Hosted IP-PBX).

Customer agrees to inform all users of Bandwidth’s calling services of the potential complications arising from the delivery of emergency services when dialing 911. Specifically, Customer acknowledges and agrees to inform all employees, guests and other third persons who may use Bandwidth’s VoIP calling services of the limitations detailed below associated with all of Bandwidth’s emergency calling capabilities.

  1. All of Bandwidth’s Calling Services Have 911 Capabilities that are Different Than Those Offered by Traditional Providers of Local Telephone Services: Customer acknowledges and agrees that all of Bandwidth’s calling services are Internet based and that the 911 calling capabilities associated with all of Bandwidth’s calling services are different from those offered by traditional providers of local telephone services. Bandwidth’s VoIP calling services are not meant to be relied upon in the case of an emergency. While Bandwidth attempts to provide access to emergency service, these VoIP services are not intended to be used to support or to carry emergency calls to any type of hospitals, law enforcement agencies, medical care units or any other kind of emergency services. YOU SHOULD MAINTAIN AN ALTERNATIVE MEANS OF CALLING EMERGENCY SERVICES.
  2. 911 Service Will NOT Work If You Experience A Power Outage, Service Outage or any other network disruption. Outages of your electricity and problems with your connection, including network congestion, will disrupt any Bandwidth calling service and you will not be able to use it for 911 emergency calling.
  3. 911 Service Will NOT Work If Your Service Is Disconnected Or You Experience An Outage For Any Reason. If you have a service outage due to a suspension of your account due to billing issues or for any other reason, you will not be able to use any Bandwidth calling services for any calls, including for emergency 911 calls.
  4. You May Not Be Able to Reach the Correct Emergency Services If You Have A Telephone Number That Does Not Match Your Actual Geographic Location. VoIP services are technically capable of being used in locations that are not associated with the traditional geographic area of a telephone number. These capabilities can cause 911 problems however. All 911 capabilities will only be available in the location that you have associated with the particular Bandwidth assigned direct-inward-dial (“DID”) telephone number assigned to the Customer. For Basic 911 Services or E911 to be accurately routed to the appropriate emergency call center, the Customer must provide accurate DID telephone numbers as the call-back telephone number for all 911 calls and accurate address information. Additionally, if you are using the service in a location that uses a different area code than the area code in the number you are using with your VoIP service, when you dial 911 you may not be able to reach any emergency personnel. Even if you do reach emergency personnel, your call may not reach the emergency personnel near your actual physical location and the emergency personnel may not be able to transfer your call or respond to your emergency.
  5. You May Not Be Able To Reach the Correct Emergency Service Center If You Fail to Register A Valid Service Address. Failure to provide a correct physical address in the correct format may cause all Basic 911 Service or E911 calls to be routed to the incorrect local emergency service provider. Furthermore, use of any Bandwidth calling service from a location other than the location to which such service was ordered, i.e., the “primary registered address,” may result in Basic or Enhanced 911 calls being routed to the incorrect local emergency service provider.
  6. You May Not Be Able to Reach the Correct Emergency Services If You Move Your Phone to a Location Different From the Address You Initially Registered. It is important that you register accurate location information every time you move the equipment associated with your Bandwidth calling service. If you move your Bandwidth equipment to another location without reregistering, when you dial 911, you may not be able to reach any emergency personnel. Even if you do reach emergency personnel, if you have not provided valid location information you will not be calling the emergency personnel near your actual location and this emergency personnel may not be able to transfer your call or respond to your emergency.
  7. You May Not Be Able to Reach the Correct Emergency Services If You Fail to Accurately Register or Reregister Your New Location Or Call 911 Within 48 Hours of Updating Your Location. It is important that you register an accurate location when you initiate your service and every time you move the equipment associated with your Bandwidth VoIP calling service. When you change your location, it may take up to 48 hours for your location change to be reflected in our records. During that time, you may not be able to reach may not be able to reach the correct emergency services center or any emergency service provider by dialing 911.
  8. Bandwidth VoIP Calling Services Allow One Emergency Service Address to be Associated with Each Telephone Number. Certain Bandwidth VoIP calling services do not have a telephone number associated with them but allow for placing and receiving calls. For example, Bandwidth offers a “softphone client” service. Customers may choose to buy calling services from Bandwidth that have a telephone number but then use the softphone client to allow multiple users to place and receive calls using one telephone number. Customers must use the softphone client and the Bandwidth VoIP calling service that has a telephone number associated with it from the same location. Using a service that does not have a telephone number in a remote location will result in the wrong address information being sent in the event of placing an emergency call by dialing 911. The emergency call operator may not be able to transfer the call to appropriate emergency call operators. In the event that Customer intends to use Bandwidth VoIP calling services in multiple locations, at least one telephone number will be required for each location. You acknowledge and agree to this limitation and agree that you will obtain at least one telephone number for each location associated with the Bandwidth calling service.

BANDWIDTH UNDERSTANDS THAT YOU HAVE READ AND UNDERSTAND THE LIMITATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE 911 AND E-911 EMERGENCY SERVICES AVAILABLE THROUGH THE BANDWIDTH CALLING SERVICES.

Any obligations that may be imposed by federal and state law on operators of private branch exchange or multiline telephone systems are obligations imposed on you, the Customer, and not on Bandwidth.

Bandwidth’s calling services will only be used for business, non-residential purposes in an environment that requires either multiple lines or extensions and if this situation ever changes you will discontinue the use of Bandwidth’s calling services.