In August 2019, the FCC adopted rules that strengthen emergency calling for Multi-line Telephone Systems (MLTS). These rules relate to Kari’s Law and RAY BAUM’S Act for 911 Direct Dialing, Notifications, and Dispatchable Location Requirements.
As the the FCC states, Kari’s Law is named in honor of Kari Hunt, who was killed by her estranged husband in a motel room in Marshall, Texas in 2013. Ms. Hunt’s 9-year-old daughter tried to call 911 for help four times from the motel room phone, but the call never went through because she did not know that the motel’s phone system required dialing “9” for an outbound line before dialing 911.
Kari’s Law was enacted by the US Congress in 2018, and requires direct 911 dialing and notification capabilities in multi-line telephone systems (MLTS), typically found in enterprises such as office buildings, campuses, and hotels. These requirements took effect on February 16, 2020.
Under the statute and Commission rules, MLTS manufacturers and vendors must pre-configure these systems to enable the user to dial 911 without having to dial any prefix or access code, such as the number 9. In addition, MLTS installers, managers, and operators must ensure that the systems support 911 direct dialing. Kari’s Law and the federal rules are forward-looking and apply only with respect to MLTS that are manufactured, imported, offered for first sale or lease, first sold or leased, or installed after February 16, 2020.
The Commission’s rules also implement the notification requirement of Kari’s Law, which is intended to facilitate building entry by first responders. When a 911 call is placed on a MLTS system, the system must be configured to notify a central location on-site or off-site where someone is likely to see or hear the notification. Examples of notification include conspicuous on-screen messages with audible alarms for security desk computers using a client application, text messages for smartphones, and email for administrators.
Enabling Kari’s Law Notifications via SMS from the SBC using the AT&T API Marketplace
An MTLS phone system is typically deployed in conjunction with a Session Border Controller (SBC). With the latest release of the Edge SBC from Ribbon, when a call is placed to an emergency number, the SBC can trigger the AT&T API Marketplace to send an SMS text message notification to one or more US-based mobile numbers to notify the user that a 911 call has been placed.
This will be a useful feature for those enterprises that want to be compliant with Kari’s Law but do not want to face a major investment cycle to upgrade their legacy equipment that for whatever reason is not capable of generating the SMS notifications.
Features
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Monitoring Interval - Time interval for the connectivity test in hours. Default entry: 8 hours.
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Events - Event on which the notification / SMS to be triggered, default is E911
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E911 Recipients List – Mobile /SMS phone nmbers for recipients receiving the E911 text
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E911 Message - Text message sent in the notification to the recipients receiving the E911 text
Get started
Use of the AT&T API Marketplace Messaging APIs, account setup and developer documentation is free. Remember, every new API Marketplace free trial account starts with a $16 credit you can use towards sending messages. You just pay for the messages you send every month - see the Pricing page for more details.
If you are new to the AT&T API Marketplace and don’t have an account yet, simply click the Get Started button. You can be up and running very quickly. If you want help, check out the Getting Started videos here on the Developer Community. They will show you how to sign up on the API Marketplace, manage your Account, create Projects, add Users, and access credentials to allow you to use the APIs.
Quickstarts and API References
You can find detailed information on SMS messaging APIs, and review further code samples, by checking out all the Quickstarts available on the AT&T API Marketplace developer pages.
You can build text messaging capabilities into your websites and applications using the following languages and SDKs; JavaScript REST API Android Python Ruby iOS .Net Java PHP Node.js Node-RED
These Quickstarts, together with API Reference docs, can help you build your own apps. In the process, you will learn about the features and capabilities of the SMS messaging APIs. By using the available code snippets, you can minimize the effort to write code from scratch and save valuable time.
Go to the Developer Community API & SDK categories to access code samples and apps for other APIs such as chat, voice, video, and 2FA, for mobile and web platforms. You can also check out other innovative use cases here in the Developer Community for different industry verticals
We love developers!
We enjoy collaborating with API Marketplace developers to help you build exciting and innovative real time video experiences. We would love to hear about your project on the Developer Community. Just create a topic, write a short post and tell us about it! We also want your feedback if you need help, have issues, or want to make suggestions. You can also go to Support on the API Marketplace itself for help with APIs and SDKs.
References