This article is condensed and originally appeared in CloudTweaks.
E911 FOR REMOTE EMPLOYEES
Remote working is no longer a luxury or a distant possibility – it’s the norm for enterprises around the world. The “trend” of telecommuting is not new; for example, the number of people telecommuting in the U.S. has increased 159 percent between 2005 and 2017. As more enterprises adopt remote work policies, this trend will maintain its upward climb.
As the global workforce continues to evolve with modern corporate cultures favoring flexibility and autonomy of their schedules, enterprise decision makers are turning to cloud-based communication tools that provide this flexibility and facilitate smooth interactions across a variety of locations. As decisions makers encourage their employees to work remotely, they will need to guarantee that the cloud-based communication services they provide grant the same safety and access to emergency services that on-premise solutions would provide employees if they were in the office.
Luckily, cloud-based communication services offer tools that help keep interactions, and ultimately employees safe and secure.
Regardless of the physical location, corporate telephones that are hosted in the cloud and connected to the company’s PBX run on a virtual extension cord and provide a connection to the employee and the company. In addition, the number associated with the phone is linked with the address of the office, not the employee’s home. This can easily lead to a disaster if employees dial 9-1-1 from the work-provided IP device or VoIP telephone in their home office and the proper accommodations have not been put in place to ensure correct 911 connectivity. To avoid this mishap, IT leaders must make sure that their remote workers using company-provided calling platforms, are able to receive the support they need in case of an emergency.
Enhanced 911 (E911) services are a cloud enabled feature to help safeguard remote employees and are vital to overall business health. E911 delivers accurate information about a caller’s location to the appropriate operators, dispatchers and first responders. The system provides accurate location data to the requisite Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP), pinpointing the exact location of where a call is originating from. By using E911 systems, employers can better protect their remote workforce.
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