E911 and emergency alerts

When someone on your phones dials 911, two things must happen. The dispatcher must get your real street address, not just a caller ID (that's the RAY BAUM'S Act). And someone at your business must be told right away (that's Kari's Law). You set up both in Settings → Emergency / 911.

When 911 may not work

Hey Quad is an internet phone service. The FCC requires us to tell you when 911 may not work or may be limited. Read the full 911 Service Advisory. In short, a 911 call may fail, or reach a dispatcher without your right address, if:

• a phone is moved, or the softphone, desktop or mobile app is used somewhere other than its registered address;
• your number is from a different area than where you are;
• your internet is down or too slow;
• the power is out;
• a new or changed address hasn't reached the 911 database yet;
• your service is suspended or cancelled;
• your equipment, our network or our carrier fails.

Before service starts, the account owner reads the advisory and ticks "I have read and understand". Nobody else can do it for them. If we publish a new version, the owner is asked again.

911 labels. Every phone you use with Hey Quad needs a 911 warning label. Press Print 911 labels (Avery 5160 / 8160 sheets) and put one on or near each phone. Phones we ship arrive labelled.

Your 911 address

Your service address from setup is also your first 911 location. It covers every phone until you add more.

• One office: that's all you need.
• More than one site: add a location for each under Dispatchable locations. Mark one as the default, or give each phone its own location.

A location is ready for 911 when its address is Validated and it has a callback number the carrier has turned on for 911. While the carrier is still setting it up, it shows Provisioning. If no number is emergency-enabled for an address, a 911 call from there reaches a national call center instead of your local dispatcher, which costs time. Set it up before you rely on a phone.

Every phone needs an emergency address before it can make outside calls. If a call is refused with "your emergency address isn't ready yet", that's why. 911 itself still goes through.

People who work from home or move around

Each phone and computer keeps its own 911 address. Anyone can update theirs: open the avatar menu, choose Profile, then Emergency calling (911) in the list on the left. For each phone, press Change 911 address and answer Where is this phone?: use the extension's address, pick one of your locations, or choose Somewhere else and type the address. Your admins are told when someone changes it.

Moving offices? Add the new address as a location before you move, and tell us so we can update your service address for taxes.

Who gets alerted (Kari's Law)

Under On-site notification, list who's alerted the moment anyone dials 911 (or 933 to test). Each alert says that the call was made, the callback number, and the address sent to the 911 center.

• Add an Email, an SMS number, or a Webhook.
• Only the people listed are told. Other members aren't.
• If nobody is listed, the alert goes to your owners and admins by email, so it's never lost.
• To alert a desk, add the desk phone's number as an SMS recipient.

Press Send test notification after any change. It sends a clearly marked test alert to everyone on the list, without placing a call.

You need at least one alert contact before your account can go live. See Finish setup and go live.

Your 911 callback number

If a dispatcher needs to call back, they call your callback number. Until you choose otherwise, that's your main number. After any 911 call, every call to it rings the person who called 911 for 90 minutes.

If other people answer your main number, add a dedicated 911 callback number in Emergency settings. It's included at no charge.

Test my 911

The page keeps a record of your Last 933 test. The 911 readiness card at the top shows how many locations are ready, how many numbers are 911-active, your alert contacts, and whether a 933 test is on file.

The 911 call log lists every emergency call made from your account, with its callback number, location and who was alerted.