How to create a 911 dialing rule

Under Kari’s Law, US service providers must allow customers to reach emergency services by dialing 911 directly. Emergency calls must work without dialing any additional digits (such as 9 to access an external line in a PBX system).

In PortaBilling, this compliance is ensured by configuring a dialing rule for direct 911 dialing and preventing customers from changing that dialing rule.

To do this, an admin:

1. Creates a dialing rule for emergency calls that customers are not allowed to replace and verifies that the rule works as expected.
2. Assigns the dialing rule to US customers.

As a result, the dialing rules menu in the self-care web interface is read-only, and customers can’t replace the dialing rule assigned to them.

To configure the dialing rule for emergency service, perform the following steps:

1. Go to Voice calls processing > Dialing rules.
2. Create a dialing rule for customers:
   • Name – enter a name for the rule, e.g., Emergency.
   • Applied to – select End user.
   • Type – select Residential, PBX, or Custom to apply this rule to the relevant customer type.
3. Open the created dialing rule and, in the Subtype field, select North America.
4. Clear the Allow end users to replace this rule checkbox so customers cannot replace the rule in the self-care web interface.

   

5. If you are creating a Residential or PBX dialing rule, go to Dialing rule parameters and, in the Load template field, select the required template, for example, North America, BC, 10-digit dialing. This template is predefined in the system.

   

   If you create a custom dialing rule, open the Translation rule page. In the Translate from customer format to E.164 field, enter s/.911./911/.

   

6. Verify that the rule works correctly. To do this, type 911 in the Dialed number by customer field and click Check your own number.

   

1. After a new customer has been created, go to Service configuration > the Dialing rules tab, turn on the toggle, and set the Emergency dialing rule.

   

2. Click Save. Thereafter, the customer can view the dialing rule details in the self-care web interface, but can’t replace the rule.
3. We recommend the same dialing rule is assigned to accounts to prevent them from selecting a different one.