Calling Emergency Services from Active iPBX
Calling 999 or 112 for Assistance – Overview
When a call is made to the emergency services by dialing 999 or 112 the call is forwarded to, and then answered by call handling agents in one of six contact centres. These contact centres are owned and operated by BT.
When the call is answered the call handling agent will say “emergency, which service do you require?”
The geographic location/address of the caller, which is normally automatically available, enables the call to be transferred to the relevant geographically located emergency service control room.
Emergency Services Access Statement
Subscribers to the Active iPBX VoIP hosted telephone system do have access to call the emergency services by dialing 999 or 112.
When you dial either 999 or 112 the emergency operator will ask for specific information to correctly transfer your call. You will need to state clearly and promptly the nature of your emergency, your location and phone number, and any other requested information. The emergency operator will then route your call to the appropriate emergency service agency, such as the Police, Ambulance or Fire brigade.
If you use your Active iPBX service outside of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, you will not be able to call the emergency services in the country where you are located.
When a 999 call is routed in the UK, the Emergency Services operators have access to an emergency database. Traditionally, this is populated with the name and address of the line subscriber.
When your company initially subscribes to the Active iPBX phone system service we will register your company office address with BT (our network partner/service provider) along with contact details of your nominated system administrator.
At this point if a call is placed to the emergency services from any of your company’s IP phones/extensions it is this initial company and contact information that is automatically passed to the emergency operator.
If you or any of your staff download and use the Office UC or Webex softphone applications and therefore on occasion work remotely, and have a need to call the emergency service, it is critical that you remember to tell the emergency operator your actual location.
If you or your staff always or mainly work from a location other than the office, please notify us of this address so that we can change the line/extension subscriber information.
To tell us of a change of address please email us on: myaddress@activeipbx.co.uk please use the subject line ‘ Change of Address’
To conclude..... Active iPBX is a business communications service. If you do have need to call the emergency services when not at your normal place of work we recommend that you dial from a regular landline or your mobile phone service, rather than your Active iPBX softphone application.
