Regulatory Considerations in the United States

Zoom Phone includes features that support requirements such as direct 911 dialing and onsite notification, which may be relevant to laws like Kari’s Law or the RAY BAUM'S Act. Organizations are responsible for their compliance with applicable regulations.

For more information on Kari’s Law and RAY BAUM’S Act, refer to the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) website.

Prefixes

Zoom Phone is configured so that dialing ‘911’ (or the defined emergency number for your country) routes as an emergency call, independent of your other dial-plan rules.

In the US/CA, dialing 933 provides an emergency call testing service for customers using Zoom to route emergency calls. The call connects to an automated system—not public safety—that verifies your setup and announces your caller ID and address.

Emergency Notifications

Zoom Phone provides several configuration options to receive notifications when an emergency number is dialed by a user. The following methods can be combined to best meet your needs:

• Email Notifications: For customers that are not deploying multiple Zoom Phone sites, email notifications can be enabled at the account level. For customers that are deploying multiple Zoom Phone sites, email notifications can be enabled at the site level. For both instances, you may configure an email distribution list made up of individuals or groups that will receive the alerts. An example of the emergency call email notification is shown below:

• Route to an Internal Safety Response Team: The internal safety response team is a Zoom Phone call queue that can receive, record, monitor, and, if needed, join an emergency call. Separate queues can be set up for each Zoom Phone site. When an emergency call is placed, the call can be routed in parallel to public safety and to the queue. Queue members will receive a detailed alert showing the caller, phone number, and the caller’s detected or default location. Queue members can monitor or barge into the call to help coordinate the response.

  • To enable, refer to the Routing Emergency Calls support article.

  • The figure below shows an example of an incoming emergency being handled by the internal safety response team queue.

• Zoom Team Chat: By deploying the Zoom “Emergency Notifications” chatbot, you can define one or more Zoom Team Chat groups to receive emergency call alerts. This application also provides the ability to post emergency messages to Zoom digital signage. To enable chatbot notifications, enable and download the Emergency Call Notifications App in the Zoom App Marketplace.

For example, if an emergency call is placed from the third floor of a building, a call alert will be received by the designated Zoom Team Chat group indicating the user that dialed the emergency extension, caller ID, the time of the call, and the configured address information, detected site, or assigned location details of the user. Members of the chat group could then choose to post messages to Zoom digital signage—in this example, perhaps designating digital signage in the lobby of the building to advise emergency responders to proceed to the 3rd floor.

• Web Hook: Zoom APIs can send a webhook alert when an emergency call is placed, enabling integration with third-party event management platforms.

  • View the API reference on Zoom App Marketplace for details.

Dispatchable Addresses

In the United States, the RAY BAUM’s Act requires a dispatchable address to be sent with emergency calls. Zoom Phone supports this requirement for both native and BYOC accounts. For customers using Zoom Phone native calling services, administrators and users can define emergency addresses for each user, phone, and location.

Zoom Native

Phone numbers procured for or ported into Zoom Native services will inherit the default site address. Administrators can modify emergency address assignments for users and common area phones as needed in the admin portal. A default address should be set for each user and device. Administrators can also control whether end users are allowed to manage their own emergency addresses.

Admins can enable end users to manage their own emergency addresses. This option can be useful for organizations with distributed or remote workforces.

An address must be validated before it can be saved. In the US and Canada, this validation is automated. For other countries, validation may be automated or require a manual step performed by the Zoom services team.

Bring Your Own Carrier

For customers outside the US or Canada using Bring Your Own Carrier (BYOC) calling services, the address of record for each phone number is maintained by the carrier. Customers must work with their BYOC carrier to update or modify these addresses. Zoom’s emergency address fields can be used to collect and manage user and device information, but the mapping of phone numbers to addresses is still implemented and maintained by the BYOC carrier.

By default, Zoom routes emergency calls for BYOC customers with US/Canada numbers. When nomadic emergency services are enabled, routing can be set at the account level or at the site level in multi-site deployments. In this configuration, Zoom's emergency address management tools apply to users and phones in the US and Canada, and addresses do not need to be updated with the carrier. If routing emergency calls through the BYOC carrier is required, this option is available by submitting a support request to Zoom.