DDI presented for emergency calls

[Lee Cramman]

We've hit a problem where we have users that work across multiple sites (so lots of hot desking) who frequently have to call the emergency services (we're a large primary care organisation so it happens once or more per day).

A specific DDI can be presented but they may not be at the site registered against that DDI (i.e. whatever address we set will be wrong 50% of the time).

Does anyone have an elegant solution for this please?

If not do we need a development request to set a different presenting DDI per SBC (site) when calling emergency numbers?

 

[Alphabetic]

I suppose you could create an outbound rule for 7911 and then remove first and set outbound ID?

you would have to make a new outbound rule per site

 

[Lee Cramman]

I suppose you could create an outbound rule for 7911 and then remove first and set outbound ID?

you would have to make a new outbound rule per site

How would you go about setting up a per-site rule? Or do you mean that you would achieve that by dialing a different first digit depending on the site you were working at?

 

[Alphabetic]

How would you go about setting up a per-site rule? Or do you mean that you would achieve that by dialing a different first digit depending on the site you were working at?

Yes, you would have to be mindful that each site was prepended with a different number. I know there are 3rd party software which can do this like @VoIPTools

 

[Lee Cramman]

Yes, you would have to be mindful that each site was prepended with a different number. I know there are 3rd party software which can do this like @VoIPTools

Thank you.

Like you, I'm UK based so we're really talking 999 / 112 here .

That's achievable but we would still have to put unprepended calls through as well, for example if a member of the public or a visitor had an emergency they still need to be able to simply dial 999. Also, I don't believe all users would remember to use 7999 or 8999 rather than just 999.

Dialing a 3 digit number in an emergency is something that's drummed into you from being a child, I would imagine it's a difficult habit to break.

This is about to become more of a problem for me as we're looking at deploying to a further 20+ small local sites (GP surgeries) over the next 5 years, all within a few files of each other and with large numbers of users that can work across multiple sites.

 

[NickD_3CX]

Hi!

With Hot Desking Extensions you can't reliably set the right Caller ID. The way it is designed within 3CX is that the Extension Number needs to be in a fixed location so that the CID that will be presented when an Emergency Number is dialed can be configured by the Admin of the system.

An alternative, because I think as I understand it, your users have IP Phones, would be to check if the IP Phones have any built-in functions where if an Emergency Number is dialed, the call is not routed via the Registered with 3CX route, rather instead goes directly to the Provider with a fixed CID per device, or notifies some sort of 3rd party via API that can identify which device the call was made from and act accordingly.

 

[Lee Cramman]

Hi!

With Hot Desking Extensions you can reliably set the right Caller ID. The way it is designed within 3CX is that the Extension Number needs to be in a fixed location so that the CID that will be presented when an Emergency Number is dialed can be configured by the Admin of the system.

An alternative, because I think as I understand it, your users have IP Phones, would be to check if the IP Phones have any built-in functions where if an Emergency Number is dialed, the call is not routed via the Registered with 3CX route, rather instead goes directly to the Provider with a fixed CID per device, or notifies some sort of 3rd party via API that can identify which device the call was made from and act accordingly.

Thanks Nick,

I'm unsure as to how you would reliably set the presenting number for an endpoint that isn't logged in (as it appears you can call emergency numbers when not logged in). I can set it for 'all' emergency calls or calls presenting from certain extension numbers or ranges but not HDxxxxx hot desking extensions that aren't logged in.

In hotdesking, when you say extension you really mean user. Surely users should only have a single extension number / login? If not that would mean if we have 5 sites they can work across they need 5 different logins, and this is without throwing soft phones into the mix.

I guess we could manually set the IP phones (although that sounds like a pain of a task) but as we use cloud / SBC our SIP provider would reject the calls on the basis of incorrect originating IP address.

I can't help but feel this is a good development request but as a customer rather than a partner I believe I'm unable to make them.

 

[VoIPTools]

Our 3CX Emergency Notifier tool can change the emergency group membership based on the IP address of the extension. Contact me and we can discuss how we can help.

 

[Lee Cramman]

I've contacted you but each site uses the same IP range so there will be overlaps... unless you're talking about the IP of the SBC?

edit: It states Windows 3CX only

 

[NickD_3CX]

In hotdesking, when you say extension you really mean user. Surely users should only have a single extension number / login? If not that would mean if we have 5 sites they can work across they need 5 different logins, and this is without throwing soft phones into the mix.

Hi Lee,

Assuming that you are using IP Phones as I suspect, the concept I was suggesting was each IP Phone by itself is a static device.
What "roams" is the users that use this static device.

If there is a way with the IP Phones you are using where, when users log in they will make all calls based on the extension they logged in with. The only exception though to be if an Emergency Number is dialed, in which case the IP Phone would not use the extension the user logged in with, rather a static configuration it would have to contact the Provider or Emergency Service directly, circumventing the PBX, so the static device would send the accurate location details based on the static config that it has.

I'm not sure if this is possible, but it may be worth looking into as an alternative.

 

[VoIPTools]

I've contacted you but each site uses the same IP range so there will be overlaps... unless you're talking about the IP of the SBC?

edit: It states Windows 3CX only

Obviously, for this to work, you would need to modify your DHCP server to use a different subnet at each location. While that MAY require a little effort, you should have them on separate subnets anyway (as a best practice) and being admittedly a little obnoxious, screwing up a emergency notification is a big deal and in my opinion worth the effort.

 

[Lee Cramman]

Obviously, for this to work, you would need to modify your DHCP server to use a different subnet at each location. While that MAY require a little effort, you should have them on separate subnets anyway (as a best practice) and being admittedly a little obnoxious, screwing up a emergency notification is a big deal and in my opinion worth the effort.

I've emailed you.

 

[Lee Cramman]

Hi Lee,

Assuming that you are using IP Phones as I suspect, the concept I was suggesting was each IP Phone by itself is a static device.
What "roams" is the users that use this static device.

If there is a way with the IP Phones you are using where, when users log in they will make all calls based on the extension they logged in with. The only exception though to be if an Emergency Number is dialed, in which case the IP Phone would not use the extension the user logged in with, rather a static configuration it would have to contact the Provider or Emergency Service directly, circumventing the PBX, so the static device would send the accurate location details based on the static config that it has.

I'm not sure if this is possible, but it may be worth looking into as an alternative.

Thanks Nick, yes we are using IP phones.

There probably is a way to get the phones to do that but it seems like quite an inelegant manual workaround.

Surely I can't be the only one facing this issue?

I've emailed voiptools but my worry is that their solution appears Windows centric.