Digital Voice Emergency 911
Our Digital Voice services use VoIP which has certain limitations relative to the Enhanced 911 service generally available on traditional land-line phone services.
As VoIP uses the internet to deliver service to the customer, any communication failures, such as power disruptions, internet connection outages, congestion or routing issues, modification of equipment or suspension of service, may prevent dialing to emergency services including 911.
Unlike traditional phone lines and Enhanced 911 which are tied to your physical address, our VoIP services are nomadic and therefore it is important that you update your address in our customer portal if you relocate your phone adapter. It may take up to 3 days for the initial activation or any subsequent updates of your address information to fully propagate throughout the 911 systems. Customers travelling outside of Canada with their phone adapter will not have access to 911 services.
When dialing 911 through VoIP services, the call may be routed to an intermediary emergency service operator to help ascertain the caller location information. The caller should be prepared to confirm or provide their current address and phone number so the call may be transferred to the appropriate emergency services personnel. If the caller is unable to speak, the operator may assume the call is from the last registered address which is why it is critical to ensure your address information is always current.
Due to the technical differences between the 911 services, there is a possibility that a VoIP 911 call could ring busy or take longer to answer as compared to a traditional 911 call placed from a fixed location. Callers to any emergency services should stay on the line until otherwise instructed and call back immediately if disconnected.
Customers should also inform any household residents, guests or other persons who may dial 911, of the nature and limitations of VoIP 911 services. Anyone uncomfortable with these differences should have an alternate means of accessing traditional 911 services or not subscribe to a VoIP based phone service.
Our services are provided “as is” and “as available” without any warranty or conditions of any kind.
Mental health crisis and suicide prevention services
As of July 16th, 2022 a 3 digit abbreviated dialing code (9-8-8) was implemented in the United States for mental health crisis and suicide prevention services.
At this time, a three digit number such as 9-8-8, is not yet available in Canada. If you require assistance, call the toll free number 1-833-456-4566 (24/7/365), or text 45645 (available 4pm – Midnight ET), to connect with a responder.
For more information on Crisis Services Canada, visit crisisservicescanada.ca.
