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911 Service

NOTE: For more VoIP 911 details, refer to:

Primus' Terms and Conditions state:

9-1-1 service is available in the exchanges as posted on the Primus website at www.primustel.ca. 9-1-1 service is available to you only if the municipal address (your municipal address) where you operate your TalkBroadband service is located within the boundaries of the exchange associated to your TalkBroadband telephone number and you have registered your municipal address with Primus. Should you choose to operate your service outside of your municipal address as registered with Primus, either temporarily or permanently, 9-1-1 service will not operate properly and may not be able to assist you.

On Monday, August 22nd, 2005, Primus made the following announcement in the TBB Portal Forums:

Primus Canada is proud to announce that emergency 9-1-1 Service is now available to all TalkBroadband customers.

The type of 9-1-1 Service available to you depends on where and how you use your TalkBroadband service. There are TWO types of 9-1-1 Service:

Enhanced 9-1-1 Service
You have E911 Service if:

your TalkBroadband telephone number corresponds to your address and municipality where you permanently use your TalkBroadband service, and
E9-1-1 is available in your serving area.

If you dial 9-1-1, your call is automatically routed to the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) corresponding to your address and the emergency operator will have your telephone and address information. You may be required to verify your name, telephone number and address with the emergency operator.

Basic 9-1-1 Service
Basic911 Service is provided in the following situations:

your TalkBroadband telephone number does not correspond to your address and municipality where you permanently use your TalkBroadband service.
you live in a serving area in which E9-1-1 from Primus is not available (currently Regina, Windsor, parts of Brampton, Hull and Hamilton).
you intend on using your TalkBroadband service from multiple locations.

If you dial 9-1-1, you will be automatically routed to a specialized call centre that handles emergency calls. This call centre is different from the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) that would answer a traditional emergency call. You will be required to provide your name, telephone number and address to the call centre operator.

9-1-1 Service will NOT be available if your Internet connection is down or your TalkBroadband service is not available, e.g. in the case of a power failure. 9-1-1 Service may not be available when calling from outside Canada.

TBB customers whose addresses are native and who will not be using their TBB service from more than one location are eligible for Enhanced 9-1-1. All other subscribers receive Basic 9-1-1 service. Primus has clarified this distinction as follows:

Native vs. non-native. To be "native" you should have both your address and municipality corresponding to your phone number. When we have been defining the 911 treatment to our existing customers we have checked their addresses against public address databases (non-Primus). As there are many ways to spell address and municipality, including typos, there are always a number of customers whose address does not match. Where the typo (or using North York instead of Toronto, etc.) is 100% clear, we correct the address and give E911. However, when we are not sure, we default to Basic 911. Also, any database may be not 100% up-to-date, meaning that some of the newer addresses will not match either and get Basic 911.

To make things even more complicated, PSAP and exchange borders are not always exactly matching the municipal borders. For example, Toronto has one PSAP and one exchange. Gatineau/Hull is served by 2 exchanges, each going to a different PSAP. This means that you can have a new TBB phone# but live in the "wrong" exchange area, meaning Basic 911. Some other examples: Mississauga has 5 exchanges, the Streetsville exchange covers parts of Brampton, the Hamilton exchange covers parts of Burlington, etc. This is all taken into account when we assign 911 treatment.

While, to be on a safer side, we do not allow a switch from Basic to E911, if you receive Basic 911 because of an address typo or similar issue, there is a way to get E911. This is done as an escalation to a Customer Service Manager.

Another important note is that, with the exception of a few cases where we do know that a customer is mobile/nomadic, we have defaulted all existing customers to "fixed" status. If this not the case,please update your 911 profile in the portal ASAP.

With Enhanced 9-1-1, Primus connects you directly to the 911 dispatch centre and transmits your TBB account address electronically. This is the billing address that you signed up with and registered on the TBB Portal. If this has changed, or there were other circumstances which meant a different billing address was provided, or you are just plain unsure, please contact Primus TBB Customer Support and ask them to verify the address on your account's 911 TAB.

Your 911 service will operate as Basic 911 if you are not located in your TBB Primary Number's 911 calling area - you live in Montreal and have a TBB Primary Number in Vancouver - or live in Oakville(905) or Thornhill(905) and have a number in Toronto(416).

Currently, all TBB Basic 911 calls are routed to an emergency call center that will verify your address before transferring you to the correct 911 dispatch centre. This takes only a few extra seconds. If the 911 caller is unable to provide their current address, Primus does electronically transmit the address information on file to the call centre, who will transfer the call accordingly. Needless to say, this is another important reason to keep your address information up to date in the TBB Portal even if you are on Basic 9-1-1 service.

Furthermore, if you travel with your DVG ATA to another place/location, Primus does not know your current location, and so cannot correctly communicate it to the emergency call centre. If you call 911 and do not verbally provide your current address, then police/ambulance/fire will show up at your registered address.

911 Service in Alberta

A number of subscribers in Alberta have inquired as to their ineligibility to receive Enhanced 9-1-1, even though they appear to meet the basic requirements. Primus has provided the following answer:

It has been explained before that to provide E911 we need to have access to a municipal database to do the address matching. This database is created by the local municipalities and managed by the incumbent telco (Telus in your case). We do have such access in every province, except for Alberta, where Telus is not forthcoming. Since we cannot match your address, we are forced to assign you Basic 911.

Recently CRTC has decided that Telus MUST provide us with the necessary access, so we will have ability to provide E911 in Alberta hopefully in December-January.

That is being said, even with Basic 911 we transfer your phone number and address info to the authorities and if you or your child cannot confirm it, because of any reason, authorities will be dispatched to the current service address as per our records.

If Your TalkBroadband ATA is Out-Of-Service (OOS).

This can be due to (Internet) network issues or power outages. Generalized blackouts, or a local blackout can affect power supply to Primus equipment, your ISP equipment, or your home.

If you are uncertain as to whether or not your 911 service will work correctly from your TBB service, it is recommended that you contact Primus beforehand for clarification, or (in the case of an emergency) use a landline or cell phone to dial 911.

The editors take no responsibility and accept no liability should you unsuccessfully attempt to reach 911 by any suggested means in this FAQ.

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by canoe edited by Styvas
last modified: 2006-10-15 22:56:16

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911 Service