When someone dials 911, emergency responders need to know where to go. With an internet phone system, your phone can be anywhere, so every extension must have a confirmed, verified emergency address before it can make calls.
- 911 calls are sent with the confirmed address for your extension.
- 911 calls always show your extension's own direct number as the caller ID, so responders can call you back. That's true whichever number you've chosen in Calling as.
What's blocked until your address is confirmed
For an extension without a confirmed address:
| Calls to outside numbers | Blocked |
| Calls to other extensions | Blocked |
| Calls to 911 | Blocked |
| Sending texts | Blocked: "Confirm your 911 location before sending messages." |
| Incoming calls | Still ring |
Confirm your location before you need it
Until your address is confirmed, you can't call 911 from intSignal Connect. Confirm it the first time your phone connects, and in an emergency before then, use a mobile phone or another line.
Confirm your location
Every person confirms their own location. No administrator is needed. The first time your browser phone connects, Set up your 911 location opens by itself. It also opens whenever you try to call with an unconfirmed address, or you can select Confirm location at the bottom of the dialer.
Share your location, or type it
Select Use my current location and allow location access when your browser asks. It helps confirm the address you enter is really where you are. Or select "I do not want to share my location. Enter address manually." If your browser has blocked location access, the screen shows how to allow it.
Enter your address
Start typing into "Start typing your street address…" and pick your address from the suggestions, or fill in the street, City, State and ZIP. Add your Apt / suite / unit / floor. Then select Verify address.
Pick the right match
If you see "We found multiple matches — pick the correct one:", choose the one that exactly matches where you are.
Add your suite, unit or floor if asked
If you see "This appears to be a multi-unit or multi-story location…", a suite, unit, floor or room is required, so responders can find you inside the building.
Review
Check the address on the map. If you shared your location and it's a long way from the address you entered, you'll see a warning. Make sure you've entered where you are, not your head office.
Accept and confirm
Read the acknowledgment, tick the box, and select Confirm & enable phone. You'll see "Emergency address confirmed. Calling is now enabled."
Once confirmed, the bottom of the dialer shows 911: followed by your address, with update to change it.
If you close the window before confirming ("Close (calling stays disabled)"), calling stays off until you finish.
If your address won't verify
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| "No matching address found — please check and try again." | Check the spelling, street number and ZIP. Try typing less and choosing from the suggestions. |
| "That address could not be verified for emergency use. Please correct it." | Enter the full street address as it appears on mail delivered there. |
| "A suite, unit, floor, or room is required for this location." | Add it in Apt / suite / unit / floor. |
| "Please check the acknowledgment to continue." | Tick the acknowledgment box. |
When you move
Your confirmed address must be where you actually are. If you work from a different place, such as home or another office, confirm your new location before making calls there. Select update next to your 911 address in the dialer.
If you've allowed location access, the browser phone checks your location from time to time while you use it. If you're more than about 800 meters (half a mile) from your confirmed address, calling is locked and a red banner appears: 911 is disabled — your location changed. Select I've stopped — update my 911 location and confirm where you are now.
For owners and admins
Emergency addresses
Go to Admin → Settings → Settings → Settings & Compliance → E911. It's always shown, in both the Easy and Advanced views. The panel explains: "Each extension needs a confirmed emergency address. Outbound calling is blocked until the assigned address is confirmed (liability accepted)."
- Add an address: enter a Label (such as HQ), Street, Suite, City, ST and ZIP, then select Add address.
- Assign one address to everyone: under Bulk: assign one address to all extensions, choose an address and select Assign to all extensions. Each extension must then be confirmed.
Each extension's status
In People & Phones → Extensions, expand an extension to see its emergency status:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ✓ confirmed | Calling is enabled |
| unconfirmed (outbound blocked) | An address is assigned but not yet confirmed |
| no address assigned | Nothing assigned yet |
Choose an address in Assign address… to assign one. Assigning or changing an address removes the previous confirmation, and the extension's user is emailed "Action needed: confirm your emergency (E911) address".
Enable calling for an extension
Confirm + enable calling stays unavailable until everything below is in place. Anything missing is listed after "⚠ To enable calling:":
- "Assign a direct phone number (used as the E911 caller ID) to this extension"
- "Assign an emergency (E911) address to this extension"
- "Validate the assigned emergency address"
When the checks pass, select Confirm + enable calling and accept "Confirm this E911 emergency address and accept responsibility/liability for its accuracy?"
Addresses are validated when a person confirms them in the browser phone. The quickest way to get everyone calling is to have each person confirm their own location. For shared phones, which have no user to confirm, contact intSignal to validate the address and enable calling.
Apply first, then confirm
After you create new extensions, select Apply Configuration before people confirm their locations. That way their new extensions are live on your phone system when calling is enabled.
Emergency address changes take effect immediately. They aren't staged and don't wait for Apply.
The audit log
The Emergency address audit log, on the E911 panel, records each location a person confirms in the browser phone: When, Confirmed by, Ext, Address, Geolocation, Source and Consent. Use Filter by user, ext, address… to find entries. Keep it as your record that each person confirmed their location and accepted the acknowledgment.
Common questions
Can I still receive calls before confirming? Yes. Only outgoing calls and texts are blocked.
We have one office. Do people still need to confirm? Yes. Each extension needs its own confirmation, and each person accepts the acknowledgment when they confirm their location in the browser phone.
Which number do responders see? The extension's own direct number, always.