We’re considering switching to ClearlyIP.com from our current vendor, Flowroute. The switch is motivated purely by the cost savings Clearly is able to provide via their module for dynamic E911 locationing in FreePBX.
Flowroute charges $0.50/DID (free port-in) and $1.39/E911, and for example, a school with 50 class rooms requires at least 50 DIDs for emergency locationing / callback. However, with Clearly, you apparently only need 2 DIDs and then their module automatically appends extension lookup code to the outgoing CID, then their trunking service checks this code and sets the correct E911 location profile on the fly! As a result, they only charge $0.50/E911, which is awesome.
Can anyone speak to any shortcomings or issues I wouldn’t have thought of?
This seems like a no-brainer, are there any other vendors/competitors out there doing the same thing? I’d like some others to compare Clearly to, but haven’t found any other wholesalers which are providing this dynamic lookup.
Ok so of course I am bias being I am from Clearly IP but Chris Sherwood a long time FreePBX advocate and a youtube channel with 200K plus subscribers talks about our e911 solution right here. https://crosstalksolutions.com/karis-law/
Outbound routes are selective by the number dialled (112,911 generally being reserved for ‘emergency’ routes) , you are not limited to using just one provider. Mix and Match maybe?
https://www.bulkvs.com/ charges $0.49/mo./E911 address + $0.06/mo./DID. This is 10% higher than Clearly but their call charges are lower; total costs would likely be less. However, I’ve no experience with them. They may be a good choice if you don’t want to be locked into FreePBX.
If you do this, be sure to send some regular traffic via the 911 provider, so you can be reasonably sure that the service will work should it be needed in an emergency.
Also, if the call fails it should fail over to some other service e.g. a POTS line. In that case, the calling room won’t be automatically identified but it’s a lot better than nothing.
For certain, you won’t find anything that integrates as nicely with FreePBX as the ClearlyIP solution. Any other solution will require you to do more configuration and perhaps custom work. Or, as already discussed, one DID per room.
Bandwidth.com seems to be another carrier-grade provider (like Flowroute) that has a good handle on E911.
IMO there is a big advantage in both reliability and support dealing with a carrier (Bandwidth, Flowroute, etc.), rather than with a middleman such as Clearly. Of course, you pay significantly for that privilege. If they have a presence in your area, Telnyx may be a good choice.
Agreed, and their 911 charges are higher than most. However, call charges (for small users) are lower than most carriers and so could be a good fit for some use cases.
Who is liable when AT&T POTS is down and you dial 911?
You all get too tied up in this thinking 911 is a 100% never fail requirement, but it has never been that.
It has to be provided, yes.
If it fails, you better have the call logs showing it attempted.
But if my phone service is down, POTS or otherwise, for reason beyond my immediate control, no one is going to be held liable.
Lawsuits will fly of curse, that is how ambulance chasers live after all.
Perhaps not in the past, my understanding is that given the new Laws, it IS now legally required that any phone (with few exceptions) must provide a connection to e911 services when anyone dials 911 at you as the provider’s peril.
OK, so let’s cover the most important part of the new law. It applies to the MLTS/PBX systems and those in charge of them. Installing FreePBX or another PBX at a customer location, you are responsible for installing a PBX that follows the law requirements and programming the PBX to meet the requirements. Not your carrier/provider.
The PBX must do the following:
Dial 911 straight. No prefixes, no special dial codes. It must dial a PSAP.
The callback number presented MUST be routable to accept incoming calls from the PSAP (in case the call is disconnected). It is preferred that it routes back to the original caller but going to the emergency contact(s) is also fine.
Notifications to contacts. While it doesn’t have to be actively watched, it does need to go someplace that is monitored/checked. SMS, email, channel spy, voicemail message. The notification should have as much details about the caller as possible.
Depending on the type of location and/or the size of the location, you must provide Dispatchable Locations for each device. Hotels/motels, schools, medical, campuses are some of the location types that require this for each phone. Otherwise the size of the building does make a difference. I can’t recall of the top of my head but a building smaller than X size can you a single location due to its size. However, bigger than that or they have two buildings (like a auto shop where the garage is detached from the office) the two buildings need locations.
The only time the carrier/provider must follow this (like myself) is when the users are directly connected to the carrier’s MLTS. So carriers like RingCentral, etc must provide these items to the end users since RingCentral (and the like) are the MLTS/PBX for the customers.
Well @staticsyphon , given all these ‘opinions’ perhaps you just keep your Flowroute Trunking, but add a $16/month clearlyip DID, you get to keep your low rates yet clearlyip will carry your e911 calls from all your 50+ endpoints (well, with no apparent indemnity or guarantee, but at least probably compliant with the current laws)
Yeah, I’ve reached out to ClearlyIP and Bandwidth already. I’m not finding or hearing of any other providers that offer the dynamic E911 integration which Clearly offers.
I’m also not sure why a contract wouldn’t indemnify so long as common practices are being employed in providing E911 (in terms of getting sued by the organization). Seems to me if the provider can’t route the call, it’s not our fault. I would think a similar issue would be if the internet were out at a location, then fault is on the customer…
In addition to removing the need to dial a prefix for an outside line when calling 911, Kari’s Law requires businesses using MLTS to also implement notifications to designated personnel when a 911 call has been made. These notifications can take the form of a phone call, email, SMS/text message, or conspicuous on-screen message.
I’m going to have to go through all the documents again. I know it was listed in the early documents released towards the end of 2019. Thought I saw it again in later updated documents.