Setting up nomadic emergency services

Nomadic emergency services provide the ability to dynamically detect and report phone users' location for emergency calling. To enable this feature, the admin must define locations and sub-locations as necessary, providing network data and a specific emergency address for each one.

When users place emergency calls from within a defined location, the corresponding emergency address can be sent to emergency responders. For sites in the US and Canada, this dynamic location data can be sent to both the public safety answering point (PSAP) and an internal safety response team. For sites outside the US and Canada, the emergency address retrieved by the PSAP will be based on the ERL/ELIN model. Learn more about the nomadic emergency services process

As part of nomadic emergency services, you can also enable personal emergency addresses. This allows users to define locations and specify an emergency address. The Zoom client will prompt phone users when they're in an undefined location and notify them that they're using a default address. The phone user can add a new location while correcting or verifying the address. The client will automatically save the IP address or wireless access point identifiers for the location. When a phone user places an emergency call from a defined location, the associated emergency address will be sent to emergency responders.

After building up a set of locations, use the nomadic emergency services dashboard to track metrics like the number of phone users that are not located in a detection location. 

This article covers:

Prerequisites for setting up nomadic emergency services

Limitations for nomadic emergency services

Location priority

When a phone user places an emergency call, Zoom Phone will use these methods (if available) to determine the emergency address. These methods are ordered by priority (highest to lowest).

  1. Network switch MAC address & port data matches for company location.
  2. BSS_ID matches for company or personal location. The service will look for a match amongst locations in my home site first.
  3. Public & Private IP address/subnet matches for company location. The service will look for a match amongst locations in my home site first.
  4. Public IP address matches for company location. The service will look for a match amongst locations in my home site first.
  5. Public & Private IP address matches for personal location.
  6. Public IP address matches for personal location.
  7. If none of the above match, for a US/CA emergency call by a device that has GPS, report GPS coordinates which are then translated to an (approximate) physical address by our carrier.
  8. If none of the above match and the device has no GPS capabilities, then:

How to enable nomadic emergency services

Before enabling nomadic emergency services for the entire account, you can test it on a subset of phone users to build up location data. After building up location data, you can enable nomadic emergency services with bootstrap mode to identify ways to improve your location data.

  1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
  2. In the navigation menu, click Phone System Management, then Company Info.
  3. If you have multiple sites, click the name of the site you want to edit.
  4. Click the Emergency Services tab.
  5. Follow one of these instructions to enable nomadic emergency services for all phone users or specific phone users:
  6. (Optional) Enable these features for nomadic emergency services:

How to add a parent location

You need to define physical locations for nomadic emergency services. A parent or sub-location has a street address (for example, 123 Main Street, 6th floor) and can also be defined by network IP address ranges and wireless access point identifiers. A typical hierarchy consists of a Zoom Phone site at the city level, create locations for each office or building, and then within each building, define sub-locations for specific floors or suites.

  1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
  2. In the navigation menu, click Phone System Management, then Company Info.
  3. Click Account Settings.
  4. Click the Emergency Services tab.
  5. Under Locations, click Manage.
  6. Follow one of these options depending on if you have multiple sites:
  7. Click Add Location.
  8. Enter the required fields.
  9. Click Save.

How to add a sub-location (optional)

If you already set up a location, you can add sub-locations to further segment emergency addresses. For example, you can add sub-locations for specific floors or suites in a building.

  1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
  2. In the navigation menu, click Phone System Management, then Company Info.
  3. Click Account Settings.
  4. Click the Emergency Services tab.
  5. Under Locations, click Manage.
  6. Follow one of these options depending on if you have multiple sites
  7. Click the Sub Locations tab.
  8. Click Add Sub Location.
  9. Enter the required fields.
  10. Click Save.

Fields for parent locations and sub-locations

Note: When updating or adding a new location, all users need to sign out and sign back in to their Zoom clients for the change to take effect.

How to add network switch information to a location

To provide more granular information for locations, you can add the MAC address and switch ports after adding a location or sub-location.

  1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
  2. In the navigation menu, click Phone System Management, then Company Info.
  3. Click Account Settings.
  4. Click the Emergency Services tab.
  5. Under Locations, click Manage.
  6. Follow one of these options depending on if you have multiple sites:
  7. Next to Network Switch, click Add.
  8. Enter the required fields. Hover over the on-screen tooltips for more information about each field.
  9. Click Save.

How to view personal emergency addresses

If you changed Personal Locations with nomadic emergency services, the Zoom desktop client will prompt phone users when they're in an undefined location and notify you that they're using a default address. They can add a new location while correcting or verifying the address. The client will automatically save the IP address or wireless access point identifiers for the location. When the phone user places an emergency call from a defined location, the associated emergency address will be sent to emergency responders.

Follow these steps to view personal emergency addresses:

  1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
  2. In the navigation menu, click Phone System Management, then Company Info.
  3. Click Account Settings.
  4. Click the Emergency Services tab.
  5. Under Locations, click Manage.
  6. Follow one of these options depending on if you have multiple sites:
  7. Click Personal Locations in the left-side panel.
  8. Select a phone user.