Emergency calling

Smileline can connect an emergency call (999 or 112 in the UK, 911 in the US) from the browser softphone, the desktop app and the Chrome extension — but only where a practice number has been registered to the address the caller is at. Responders are dispatched to that registered address, so this page is about getting two things right: which site each number's phones are at, and which location each device is calling from.

What happens when someone dials 999

1. The device checks which location it is calling from (see below).
2. Smileline looks for a Voice number registered for emergency calling at that location and places the call with that number as the caller ID — never the practice's default caller ID, which may belong to another site.
3. The practice's owners and managers receive an Emergency call placed notification, and every open Desk shows who dialled and from where.

If the device has no location, or that location has no number registered yet, the call is refused with a message saying so. Ordinary calls are never affected by this — a number without a registered address still makes and takes calls as normal.

On the mobile app, emergency numbers always open the phone's own dialler: a phone knows where it is, a VoIP call from it does not.

Register a number to its location

Every Voice line on Smileline is tied to the site where the phones that use it are — for a team that answers for several practices from one number, the site where the team sits, not the practices it answers for. The practice chooses this — Smileline never infers it from call routing.

The line under each number shows the registration state:

• Emergency calls registered — Reception: 999/112/911 dials from devices at Reception use this number. There is nothing to click: filing the same address again would take emergency calling off the number until the carrier confirms it. Update emergency address appears only once the location was edited after the registration.
• Registering the emergency address…: the carrier is validating it. This can take a few days in the UK. Smileline keeps checking an accepted registration until the carrier finishes, with checks gradually spaced up to an hour apart. Emergency calling stays unavailable until it is confirmed. A registration still in progress doesn't stop you changing the number's role. If the number becomes a tracking number, its registration stops: tracking numbers don't place emergency calls.
• Emergency address rejected: the carrier could not validate the address. Correct it on the Locations page, then click Register address on the number. The rejection also appears under Settings → Review with the carrier's reason.
• Not registered for emergency calls at Reception yet: a live number whose registration was cleared by a desk-phone line (see below). Nothing files it by itself — once the desk-phone line is removed, click Register address.
• No location assigned: pick one — nothing can dial emergency services from this number until you do.

If a registration stopped checking after repeated failures, open Settings → Review queue → Couldn't be processed and click Try again on its newest emergency-registration item. This resumes the saved address and checks the carrier again, including an activation that has already finished there. The retried item moves to Handled; check the number's registration state for the final result. Older attempts cannot replace a newer registration. This recovery also works for desk-phone lines.

A carrier rejection still needs its stated cause corrected before registering again. Mark as handled and Delete only settle the review item; they do not activate emergency calling.

Desk-phone (raw) lines register their handset's address from the routing page instead — see Desk phones. A desk handset — a member's or a shared one — dials out, 999/112/911 included, presenting the registered number of the location it is set to on the Calling devices card, so keep that location right if the phone moves (see Desk handsets). An emergency call from a shared phone names the phone in the managers' alert.

Registering a desk-phone line points the number's carrier record at the handset's address, so the number's own registration is cleared. While the line is connected, Register address on the number is refused — the line registers its own address. Once the line is removed, click Register address on the number to file its site's address again — until you do, 999/112/911 can't use the number.

Move a number to another site

If the phones that use a number move, or it was registered to the wrong site, choose Change location… under the number and pick the new site. A live number files the new site's address with the carrier straight away; a number still on order or mid-port registers there when it goes live. A number on a desk-phone line only records the new site: click Register address once the line is removed.

A move is refused, and nothing changes, while desk handsets at the old site dial out as the number — the move would leave them unable to dial out, 999/112/911 included. Move those handsets to another site on the Calling devices card, or remove them, first. A handset you have just removed counts until the carrier has finished deleting it.

A parked number can't be moved: Change location… returns once Voice is switched back on.

Tell each device where it is calling from

A laptop or the desktop app can move between sites, so each device carries its own Calling from location. It starts as the member's home location from Settings → Team; a device with no location asks once per session.

• Browser and desktop app: the softphone shows Where are you calling from? until a location is chosen. Change it any time from the Desk keypad's Calling from … · Change line.
• Chrome extension: the popup shows Calling from … under the practice name. Choose or change the location in the Smileline app.

If you take a device to another site, change the location before you rely on it for emergency calls.

The notice everyone reads once

The first time a person opens a surface that can place calls, Smileline shows the emergency-calling notice and records that they read it. It is shown again whenever the substance of what the phone system can do changes.

Next steps