Appendix: U.S.Regulatory Requirements—Kari's Law and RAY BAUM'S Act

Two U.S.federal laws govern emergency calling for multi-line telephone systems (MLTS). Zoom Phone is designed to comply with both.

Kari's Law (2018)

Kari's Law was enacted following an incident in which a hotel guest was unable to reach 911 because the phone system required dialing a prefix (e.g., "9") for an outside line. The law establishes two core requirements:

Requirement 1 - No prefix to reach emergency services. Any user on a multi-line phone system must be able to dial 911 directly without dialing a prefix, access code, or postfix.

How Zoom complies: Zoom Phone routes 911 (or any country-defined emergency number) as an emergency call by default, regardless of dial plan configuration. No prefix or postfix is required. This behavior is built into the platform and cannot be overridden.

Requirement 2 - Notify a designated on-site contact. When an emergency call is placed, the system must send a real-time notification to a designated point of contact at the facility (e.g., a front desk, security team, or safety officer).

How Zoom complies: Zoom Phone provides four notification channels that can be combined: email distribution lists, an Internal Safety Response Team call queue, Zoom Chat bot alerts, and API webhooks. These can be configured at the account level or per site.

Tip: Dial 933 (U.S./Canada only) to reach an automated test service that validates your emergency calling setup — including notification delivery — without engaging real public safety resources.

RAY BAUM'S Act (2019)

RAY BAUM'S Act builds on Kari's Law by requiring that a "dispatchable location" be conveyed to the PSAP with every 911 call. A dispatchable location must be detailed enough for first responders to find the caller — not just a street address, but the specific building, floor, and room or suite.

How Zoom complies: Zoom Phone enables detailed emergency addresses for every user, phone, and location. The Address Line 2 field captures building, floor, wing, and room information. For U.S./Canada customers using Zoom PSTN calling, this dispatchable address is transmitted directly in the call signaling via the PIDF-LO protocol. For nomadic users, Zoom's location detection automatically selects the correct dispatchable address based on the user's detected network location.

Address validation: When an emergency address is entered or updated in the U.S./Canada, Zoom automatically validates it before it can be saved. For other countries, validation may involve a manual processing step handled by Zoom's services team (addresses show as "Pending" until approved).

Law	Year	Requirement	How Zoom Complies
Kari's Law	2018	1) No prefix to dial 911 2) Notify on-site personnel	911 always routes as emergency call Email, Safety Team queue, Chat bot, and Webhook notifications
RAY BAUM'S Act	2019	Send dispatchable location to PSAP	Detailed addresses (building/floor/room) via Address Line 2; PIDF-LO delivery in U.S./Canada

For more information on these regulations, see the FCC's MLTS 911 Requirements page