Your safety is paramount
DigiVie’s inTouch VoIP 911 Service provides you with a reliable means of reaching help in times of emergency. It is important that you understand how it works, how it differs from traditional phone service and what you must do to ensure that it works smoothly – when you need it. It is equally important that you inform all other potential users of your inTouch VoIP service of the differences and limitations.
The inTouch VoIP 911 Service is operated in conformance with CRTC directives for nomadic VoIP services.
DigiVie has made every effort to make the 911 Service as reliable as possible through adherence to the highest standards. Unfortunately, like all other emergency services, there is a small likelihood of failure due to network congestion or equipment malfunction. This is particularly true during a natural (or man-made) disaster when networks, switches and lines are jammed or busy due to abnormal traffic. As 911 is not the only way to reach emergency personnel, it is advisable to keep on hand direct numbers for the police, fire department, paramedics, etc. For these reasons, DigiVie strongly recommends that you have access to a traditional landline or a cell phone as alternative means of accessing 911 services during power outages or Internet failure.
Please feel free to contact us for any clarifications.
Activate 911 Service
You must activate the 911 Service. This requires you to fill in your address, acknowledge that you understand the limitations of the technology and give your consent. This form is offered to you when you subscribe to DigiVie’s inTouch VoIP service.
Update your address
If you have changed your location, login to your account and update your address.
In an emergency
Call 911 and state the emergency in a clear, calm and discernible voice. The emergency dispatcher will ask you to confirm your current location.
When confirming your address, mention any distinguishing landmarks that may help the emergency services personnel locate you quickly.
Do not hang up until told to do so by the emergency services personnel. If you get disconnected, call back immediately.
To allow emergency services personnel to call you back subsequently, should they need to, observe the following:
- Ensure that Call Forwarding and Do-Not-Disturb are deactivated.
- Ensure that your telephone ringer is not set to OFF.
How is inTouch VoIP 911 different than traditional 911?
Here are the differences at a glance:
| SITUATION | inTouch VoIP 911 | TRADITIONAL 911 |
|---|---|---|
| Power Outage | Stops working | Continues working |
| Internet out of service | Stops working | Continues working |
| Does the 911 call center know your location? | Likely. However the emergency call center operator will ask you to confirm your location. | Yes, always. |
| Upon arriving at a new location will 911 work? | Yes. However you should update your address in our database and receive a confirmation. This ensures that the call center operator does not see the wrong address when you call. | Not applicable, as you cannot take a traditional telephone line with you when you travel. |
How does inTouch VoIP 911 work?
Determining your location:
Due to the portability of VoIP service, DigiVie cannot know your current location unless you keep us advised of changes at all times. DigiVie relies on the address you provide at the time you subscribed or updated subsequently by logging in to your account. This is important to bear in mind. Wrong or outdated information may mean a delay in response time.
If you move to another location, you must register your new location via your online account. If you do not register your new location, calls you make to the 911 Service may be sent to an emergency center near your old address.
Dispatching help:
When you call 911 using the inTouch VoIP Service, your telephone number and registered address are automatically sent to a specialized emergency call-answer centre where the call is routed. The operator responding to your call will ask you to confirm the location of the incident, which will be used to select the PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point) nearest to the incident. After verifying this location, the operator will route your call to an appropriate PSAP (i.e. the 911 emergency services center) where you will be asked about the particulars of your emergency so that the appropriate emergency services (police, fire department, paramedics, etc.) can be contacted for dispatch to the incident location.
Will inTouch VoIP 911 always work?
It is important to note that inTouch VoIP 911 stops working while traditional telephone 911 continues to work in situations where your Internet is out of service. These situations include power outages and malfunction of equipment such as your Cable/DSL modem, router or Telephone Adapter.
Does the 911 dispatcher know your location?
While the traditional telephone 911 dispatcher always knows the caller’s location, the inTouch VoIP 911 dispatcher is likely to know it as well, provided you have maintained and kept your location information up-to-date. However, in conformance with CRTC regulation, the emergency call center operator will ask you to confirm your location.
Upon arriving at a new location, will inTouch VoIP 911 work?
Yes, if you updated your address and received a confirmation. If not, login to your account and update your address without delay.
Do I test the 911 Service?
No. You do not need to do this. When you activate the service or subsequently update your address particulars, you will receive a confirmation email from DigiVie informing you that your 911 Service is active and functioning.
Note that calling 911 when there is no emergency may be a punishable offence in some provinces and states. If you have called 911 by mistake, immediately inform the operator that there is NO emergency.
Are there special charges for the 911 service?
There is a small, flat monthly fee for the inTouch VoIP 911 service. This amount appears as a separate item on your monthly statement. There are no additional usage charges.
