Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
How does 911 work on a VoIP phone system for a Texas office?
On VoIP, 911 calls carry the location on file for each phone or user. A new multi-line system must allow direct 911 dialing, with no 9 first, and alert a central point such as the front desk. Office phones must send a dispatchable location, street address plus floor or suite; remote softphones and apps should where technically feasible.
Book a DemoUpdated October 2026 · Cleod9 Voice, Arlington, TX
Dial 911 directly
Kari’s Law requires multi-line systems to reach 911 without dialing 9 or any other prefix first.
Someone is told
The system must also notify a front desk or other central point whenever anyone dials 911.
Address plus suite
RAY BAUM’S Act requires a dispatchable location: the street address plus the floor or suite.
Records need upkeep
Locations for remote and mobile users go stale fastest, so someone has to own keeping them current.
What changes about 911 when the office leaves landlines
On a VoIP system, the address that goes out with a 911 call is a record somebody entered. It is only as good as the last time someone checked it. Move a desk to the second floor, let someone work from home in Frisco three days a week, open a second suite down the hall, and that record can quietly stop describing where the caller actually is.
Two federal rules set the baseline for a business phone system. Kari’s Law covers how 911 is dialed and who in the building finds out. RAY BAUM’S Act Section 506 covers the location information that goes with the call. A third requirement, the FCC’s VoIP 911 disclosure, covers what the provider must tell you about the limits of 911 on its service.
Cleod9 supports Enhanced 911 with location information. The location records still have to be kept current, especially for remote and mobile users, and nobody knows when a desk moves better than the office itself. If you are in the middle of a switch, the plan for moving an office from landlines to VoIP shows where 911 setup fits. This page is general information, not legal advice. For questions about your organization’s specific obligations, talk to your attorney.
Kari’s Law: direct dialing and the front-desk notification
Kari’s Law requires multi-line phone systems to let anyone dial 911 directly, without dialing 9 or any other prefix to get an outside line first. It also requires the system to send a notification to a front desk or other central point when someone dials 911. The law applies to systems manufactured, imported, sold, leased or installed after February 16, 2020, which includes a new VoIP system installed today.
The notification is the part offices tend to underestimate. Picture a dental office in Fort Worth. A hygienist in the back operatory dials 911 for a patient. If the front desk learns about it right away, someone can open the side entrance, meet the ambulance in the parking lot, and walk the paramedics straight to the right room. If the front desk finds out when the paramedics walk in, minutes are gone.
- Can every phone and app on the system reach 911 without a 9 or any other prefix?
- Who receives the 911 notification, and is that position staffed whenever people are in the building?
- Where does the notification go after hours, on weekends, or when the front desk is at lunch?
- Does the notification show who called and from which extension?
- Have staff been told plainly to dial 911 directly, with no 9?
RAY BAUM’S Act: what a dispatchable location means
Section 506 of RAY BAUM’S Act requires a 911 call to carry a dispatchable location. That means a street address plus the floor or suite, enough for a responder to find the caller without searching the building. For an office it looks like a mailing address with the suite number on it, such as 2500 E Randol Mill Rd, Suite 107, Arlington, rather than a street address alone.
The requirement took effect for fixed devices, such as a desk phone that stays plugged in at one desk, on January 6, 2021. It took effect for non-fixed devices and off-premises VoIP on January 6, 2022. A softphone on a laptop or a mobile app used away from the office counts as a non-fixed device. For a softphone or mobile app used away from the office, the 911 call should carry a dispatchable location where technically feasible, which is why the location on file has to stay current.
In a single-suite office, the dispatchable location is simple. In a three-floor building in Irving, a school campus in Mansfield, or a clinic with a separate building out back, it takes more thought. The FCC’s summary of multi-line telephone system 911 requirements is the plain-language source for both rules.
At the office: fixed phones
A desk phone that stays put is the easy case. Its location gets set once, with the correct floor or suite, and it stays right until something physical changes.
The risk is quiet drift. A remodel renumbers the suites. A department moves upstairs and takes its phones along. A phone from the front office ends up in the warehouse. None of these feels like a phone system change, so nobody updates the record.
Tie the 911 record to the office’s move process. Whoever approves a desk move, a remodel or a new suite also checks the 911 locations for the phones involved.
Away from the office: apps and remote work
Each person’s extension follows them to a desktop or browser app and a mobile app that uses the business number. That is the point of a cloud system, and it is also why remote and mobile users are where 911 records most often fall out of date.
Someone who works from home in McKinney on Mondays and from the Dallas office the rest of the week does not have one location. Neither does an inspector or a home health nurse moving between job sites around Tarrant County.
Ask your provider exactly how a remote user’s location gets updated when they change where they work: who does it, how, and what 911 receives if nobody does. Then make the answer part of your remote-work policy.
When to update 911 location records
A 911 record is accurate on the day it is entered. These are the moments that make it wrong, and each one should trigger a check by whoever owns 911 records in your office.
The office moves, expands into another suite, or has its suites renumbered by the landlord.
A person changes desks, floors or buildings, or a desk phone is moved to a different room.
An employee starts working from home, moves to a new home, or begins splitting time between locations.
The business opens a new location or starts using a shared space, such as a coworking office in Plano.
Name one person as the owner of 911 records, usually the office manager or whoever handles new hires and moves. Give that person a simple list of every phone and app user with the location on file, and have them review it on a schedule as well as at every change.
The outage disclosure, and what to do about it
FCC rules require VoIP providers to explain how 911 works on their service, including the fact that 911 may not work during a power or internet outage. Read that disclosure when you sign up. Then make sure the people who would actually dial 911 in your office know what it says, because they are often not the people who signed the agreement.
VoIP desk phones need power and internet. Desk phones keep running through short outages, like the flicker from a spring thunderstorm, if the modem, router and network switch are on a battery backup. A long outage is another matter. When summer heat strains the grid or a winter ice storm keeps the power off for longer than a closet battery can carry, the desk phones go dark with everything else.
The practical rule for staff is simple: if the office has lost power or internet, use a cell phone for 911. Post that next to the front desk. For the rest of an outage plan, including rerouting inbound calls to the mobile app, see the guide to what happens to business phones when the internet or power goes out.
Testing your 911 setup without tying up dispatchers
Testing 911 is mostly checking records and settings, not dialing. Do not place a test call to 911 on your own. Ask your provider how it recommends verifying 911 for your setup, and follow that process if a live test is part of it.
Most of the useful testing happens on paper. Print the list of locations on file and walk the office with it. Compare each record with where the phone or person actually is. Then do the same with the remote users by asking them, not by assuming.
- Walk the office with the location list and confirm every floor and suite.
- Ask each remote and mobile user to confirm the address on file for where they work.
- Confirm with your provider who receives the Kari’s Law notification and how it arrives.
- Ask your provider to show you that direct 911 dialing is set up on every phone and app.
- Repeat the review after every move, new hire, remodel and change in remote-work arrangements.
Common questions
Do employees still need to dial 9 before 911 on a business phone system?
No. Kari’s Law requires multi-line phone systems to let users dial 911 directly, with no 9 or other prefix, for systems manufactured, imported, sold, leased or installed after February 16, 2020. A new VoIP system installed today falls in that group. Tell staff plainly to dial 911 directly, because people who have worked in older offices may still reach for the 9 out of habit.
What location does 911 receive when someone calls from the mobile app at home?
It sends whatever location is on file for that user. Under RAY BAUM’S Act, a softphone or mobile app used away from the office is a non-fixed device, and the rules for non-fixed devices took effect January 6, 2022. For those devices, the 911 call should carry a dispatchable location where technically feasible, which is why the location on file has to stay current. Ask your provider how a remote user’s location gets updated, and by whom.
Will 911 work on VoIP if the office internet or power is out?
It may not. FCC rules require VoIP providers to tell you this in their 911 disclosure. Desk phones need power and internet, and a battery backup on the modem, router and network switch only covers short outages. Make sure staff know to use a cell phone for 911 when the office has lost power or internet, and post that instruction where everyone will see it.
Who should receive the Kari's Law 911 notification?
A front desk or another central point that is staffed whenever people are in the building. In a medical or dental office, that is usually the front desk, which can meet responders and direct them to the right room. In a larger building, it might be reception or building security. Decide where the notification goes after hours, and confirm with your provider how it arrives.
How often should we review our 911 location records?
At every change that could make a record wrong: an office move, a renumbered suite, a desk move, a new hire, or someone starting to work from home. Add a review on a fixed schedule as well, such as once a quarter, because some changes slip through. Give one person ownership of the list so the review actually happens instead of being everyone’s job and nobody’s.
Are there 911 fees on a VoIP phone bill in Texas?
Yes. State and local 911 fees apply to phone service, and Texas sales tax applies to telecom services. Interconnected VoIP is also subject to the federal Universal Service Fund contribution, which providers commonly pass through as a line item. Amounts vary, so ask any provider to list every tax, fee and surcharge on a sample bill in writing before you sign.
Talking to Cleod9
Before anyone needs it, get answers to three questions about 911 in your office: what location is on file for each phone and app user, who receives the front-desk notification, and how a remote worker’s location gets updated when they change where they work. Cleod9 supports Enhanced 911 with location information on its cloud phone system. The wider picture of uptime, power and call quality is on the page about how reliable VoIP is for a Dallas-Fort Worth business.
Help is local too: whoever you work with at Cleod9 is in the same time zone and can come on site if needed, which matters when an office moves suites or starts a remote-work schedule. Book a free consultation or call (817) 855-3000 and bring those three questions with you.