Emergency services handle difficult situations and try to save the victims from life-threatening scenarios. Certain cases of avoidable dangers are possible to handle with timely help to the victims of these emergencies. The US government did launch 911 services long back to tackle such emergencies over the phone. But with the services of 911, came severe shortcomings, which gave way to Kari’s law.
Before knowing the background behind this law, let us discuss some factual data. Do you know that the emergency 911 services in the USA receive 240 million every year? With such excess calls, it is easy for the systems to get thwarted due to insufficient location data. The first responders require technologically sound devices like mobile phones or extension phones to respond promptly to such distress calls. Kari’s law refers to the effective working of these services. Let us explore how?
What is Kari’s law?
The law that came into effect in February 2020, states that every multi-line phone system or MLTS system in the United States must enable direct dialing to 911 centers without using any extension. All these multi-line phone systems or MLTS systems serve multiple offices, hotels, schools, etc. It eliminates the use of dialing any additional trunk prefixes or other digits by the victim to contact the 911 services team.
Kari’s law further ensures that the multi-line phone systems or MLTS systems must notify the designated facility persons about this call. This double-check ensures that the help seeker could connect to the 911 first-responders in a minimal amount of time. The facilities for making distress calls like offices, hotels, and schools can further do their part in relieving this emergency and saving the help seekers.
History of Kari’s law
Before jumping into details, it is crucial to go through the story behind Kari’s law. It begins with the murder of Kari Hunt in Marshall, Texas in a hotel room in 2013. Kari Hunt has bought her three children to let them meet with her estranged husband. She was living with her family. The couple went into the bathroom to talk privately while the kids were watching TV. Suddenly his husband Brad Dunn stabbed her 21 times and fled the crime spot with the middle child. He soon was arrested with the help of an Amber Alert.
Kari’s daughter aged 9 years old at that time had dialed 911 four times but wasn’t aware that she had to add prefix 9 before making the call. Unfortunately, the multi-line phone system of the hotel didn’t make any call to 911. The lawyers representing Kari Hunt in the court claimed that it was possible to save her life if her daughter was able to connect with 911 emergency services at the right time.
The young girl also tried to reach the two hotel employees but they could not understand the English language. Hence, Kari’s law further mandates that the multi-line phone systems used to make 911 calls must notify the front desk, security offices, and other designated authorities about the reach of the victim to 911 calls using the facility’s hardware.
Kari’s law first became Texas’ state law in the aftermath of Kari Hunt’s death. Kari’s father, Hank Hunt, worked tooth and nail with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Congress to get this law to earn attention at the national level. He further mobilized support for this law at multiple levels. Avaya, the leading communication service provider further raised attention to Kari Hunt’s story.
It was in 2017 that Kari’s law became national legislation and got approval in 2018, five years after the death of Kari. On the 50th anniversary of the first 911 call in the United States on February 16, 2018, the US president signed the law. Businesses took two years to prepare it, thus coming into effect in 2020.
Key requirements of Kari’s law
The main two necessities of this law include:
1. Direct dialing to 911
There shouldn’t be the need for any prefix to call outside the building when dialing 911. The users often don’t know the regional prefixes and hence may not get emergency help in times of need. Kari’s law ensures that one can dial 911 without any restriction.
2. Onsite notification of a 911 call
The facility’s command center should get proper notification about anyone dialing 911 using the facility numbers. The screen pop-ups and audible alarms for security can offer quick notification to the concerned authorities. It helps speed up the response time, offering crucial information to the facility staff, and reducing the confusion of delay in reaching the exact point of distress in the facility.
What is Ray Baum’s Act?
It assures that the phone systems should transmit sensitive data critically to 911 centers about the “dispatchable location” of the call. It is useful for the first-responders to release help teams at the right location quickly.
Why do we need Kari’s law?
First things first, Kari’s law is mandatory for all VoIP and non-VoIP multi-line phone systems. Any non-adherence to this law can call for strict action against the service providers.
Secondly, it is the responsibility of the big facilities to ensure extended safety and wellbeing of the inhabitants. Kari’s law eliminates dangerous situations only because of the non-reachability to the 911 services.
How to become compliant with Kari’s law?
Businesses can remain compliant with Kari’s law in the following ways:
- Evaluating the multi-phone lines systems- Whether it is using PBX or VoIP services
- Installing Kari’s law-compliant hardware- Upgrading hardware to law’s compliances
- Proper configuration of E911- Technology offering automatic location details to 911
- Using NG11- The nationwide operation replacing the outdated infrastructure to handle emergency communications
- Testing new system’s data- To confirm the effective working of 911 systems
Wrapping Up
Hence, Kari’s law ensures that no person faces consequences of the non-connection to 911 services in the USA while dialing from hotels, schools, offices, or other facilities. It is crucial to maintain the security of the facility and its inhabitants. The list of steps for the businesses to remain compliant with this law further ensures zero gaps in its execution.