911 Enable, a division of Connexon Telecom Inc., and a provider of E911 solutions for IP-PBX (News - Alert) systems, announced it has introduced “one of the industry’s first E911 solutions for Microsoft (News - Alert)Communications Server 14.”

Microsoft Communications Server “14” is a platform for presence, instant messaging, conferencing, and enterprise voice. It is a follow-up to Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2.

E911 is a North American telecommunications based system that automatically associates a physical address with the calling party's telephone number, and routes the call to the most appropriate Public Safety Answering Point “PSAP” for that address.

The new solution from 911 Enable (News - Alert)uses the Emergency Routing Service or “ERS” functionality to deliver E911 capabilities for Communications Server “14” deployments, company officials said.

The ERS is an E911 Session Initiation Protocol (News - Alert)or “SIP” trunking service that provides connectivity to PSAPs across the United States. When 911 is dialed, the ERS routes the emergency call and the caller’s accurate location information to the appropriate PSAP, based on the caller’s discovered location.

ERS has the ability to directly extract the discovered location from the SIP signaling originating from Microsoft’s location-aware end points. This capability eliminates the need for organizations to provision emergency response locations in an ALI database.

Further, ERS also helps organizations meet their state E911 regulations, ensures on-site security are notified of all emergency situations, and supports off-campus users in a manner that is both elegant and simple to manage, company officials said. 

“The release of the Next Generation ERS is a milestone for the public safety industry, and represents a significant advancement in E911 call handling technology,” Lev Deich, Director of 911 Enable, said in a statement.

“The ERS for Communications Server “14” builds on our existing E911 capabilities, ensuring organizations who take advantage of Microsoft’s advanced unified communications features also receive unparalleled E911 support,” Deich added.

“We are pleased that 911 Enable integrated their emergency call routing solution with Microsoft Communications Server “14,” Yancey Smith, director of Communications Server Product Management at Microsoft, said. “911 Enable’s solution is easy to deploy and supports users inside and outside the enterprise, enhancing employee safety.”

ERS for Communications Server “14” will be showcased at the VoiceCon 2010 conference, March 22 to 35 in Orlando. The solution will also be featured  in Microsoft’s submission for the popular VoiceCon mock RFP contest, company officials said.

Earlier in March, 911 Enable announced that its Emergency Gateway or “EGW” appliance has achieved Aastra (News - Alert)certification for Clearspan R14, TMCnet reported. EGW is an on-site appliance that helps organizations meet state and local E911 regulations in an easy way.

Rajani Baburajan is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Rajani's articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Michael Dinan