- E911 Service– With e911 service (“e911 Service”), when a Customer dials 911, a Valley Electric/Valley Communications-assigned telephone number and the address assigned to the device placing the call are simultaneously sent to the local emergency center to enable emergency operators to send help and to call the Customer back, if necessary.
- Basic 911 Service– Customers in locations in which the emergency center is not equipped to receive the Customer’s telephone number and/or address have what’s referred to as basic 911 (“Basic 911 Service”). With Basic 911 Service, the local emergency operator answering the call may not have the Customer’s call back number and/or exact location. Therefore, Customer must be prepared to give his/her telephone number and address to the emergency operator. Until the Customer gives the requisite call back and location information to the emergency operator, the emergency operator may not be able to dispatch help or return the Customer’s call. This is especially the case if the call is not completed or forwarded, is dropped or disconnected, or if the Customer is unable to speak. As local emergency centers become capable of receiving Customer’s address and call back information, Valley Electric/Valley Communications will automatically upgrade customers with Basic 911 service to e911 service. Valley Electric/Valley Communications will not provide notice of the upgrade.
- No Access to e911 or Basic 911 Service– Certain Customers do not have access to either e911 Service or Basic 911 Service. If Customer does not have access to Basic 911 service or e911 Service, the Customer’s emergency call will be sent to the Valley Electric/Valley Communications’ national emergency call center.
In such case, a trained agent at the emergency call center will ask the Customer for his/her name, telephone number and location and will then contact the local emergency center for such location in order to send help.
Examples of situations where 911 calls will be sent to the Valley Electric/Valley Communications national emergency call center include when there is a problem validating a Customer’s address, the Customer is identified with an international location (see section 2(b)), or the Customer is located in an area that is not covered by the 911 network.
- Desktop or Softphone App 911 Calls– If Customer uses a Desktop or Softphone app, 911 calls will be routed to the local emergency center serving the 911 location that is associated with the Desktop or Softphone app. Therefore, if Customer is using the Desktop or Softphone app in a nomadic manner (e.g., from a hotel, from a home office, etc.), the Customer must update the 911 location on an ongoing basis to ensure that 911 calls will be sent to the appropriate local emergency center that serves the then current Customer location.