Emergency Services provisioning guide

Sarah Krawiec

Updated

This guide covers all the information required to provision Emergency Services on the Universal Platform. Provisioning refers to the act of submitting a collection of data that together comprise the needed caller information for an emergency call. We refer to this collection of information as an “endpoint record” (or often simply “endpoint”). Ensuring that your endpoints are properly provisioned is the first step in securing successful emergency call routing.

Customers can provision with any one of our service tools: direct portal entry via the Bandwidth App (single entry or bulk CSV upload) or programmatically via the Unified Emergency Services API. 

How do I add an endpoint?

To provision (single and bulk) via the Bandwidth App:

  1. Log in to the Bandwidth App.
  2. In the side navigation bar, select Emergency and then click Endpoint Records.
  3. Click Add at the top of the page.

  1. Complete the required fields for small quantity adds, or click Switch to Bulk Upload underneath the country selector for bulk adds.

  1. When uploading bulk endpoints, you can either use a format that includes the full address or one that includes an address ID for the address that may have already been created with Bandwidth. You can download both templates here: 

As you fill out these templates, please note the following:

    • Please enter data starting on line 2 (do not change any data on line 1)
    • Columns highlighted in red represent required endpoint data
    • Columns highlighted in blue represent required location data
    • Columns highlighted in green represent optional endpoint or location data
    • Columns highlighted in purple represent country-specific endpoint data (required only for some countries)
    • Columns highlighted in grey represent optional transaction data (will default if no value is present)
    • Save and upload files only in the CSV format

Endpoint provisioning data

No matter which Bandwidth tool you use to provision, there is basic data that must be submitted with your provisioning request. The table below provides a full breakdown of what data is required and under what circumstances (including variants by country). Each field can be Mandatory, Optional, or Conditional, and will be dependent on the Transaction type (ADD, DELETE, UPDATE, PORTIN).

Note: DELETE, UPDATE, and PORTIN transaction types are not currently available but are coming soon.

From a provisioning perspective, Emergency Services (ES) can be split regionally into two categories based on like requirements and behaviors. Those regions are:

  • North America (or “NA”)
    • Includes US, US territories (US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Guam), and Canada
    • These countries and territories have the same products, features, and  processes for ES provisioning and management
    • Supported by the NANP (North American Numbering Plan)
  • Rest of World (or “RoW”)
    • Includes 35 countries across the world
    • These countries have the same products, features, and customer-facing processes for ES provisioning and management
    • Not supported by the NANP

Note: There are some nuanced variations by country; the “applicable country” column below will specify if a given data field applies broadly to region(s) or specifically to a country.

The data fields shown below are required for provisioning new endpoints only (ADD). DELETE actions simply require the phone number, while the required fields for an UPDATE action will vary depending on what field is being updated (but generally will be the phone number plus the field being updated). Please see the Endpoint Management Guide for more information on how to manage existing endpoints.

Field name Field description Allowed value Field type Applicable country
Transaction Type Type of transaction associated with the upload. This can be:

ADD = new endpoint

DELETE = remove endpoint

UPDATE = update any information

PORTIN = new endpoint for a ported-in phone number

ADD

DELETE

UPDATE

PORTIN

 Mandatory

PORTIN applies to BEL, CHE, DEU, DNK, GBR, IRL, LUX, and NLD only


Other transaction types apply to all countries
Endpoint ID Unique string identifying an end user 4-30 alphanumeric characters Optional – will default to phone number if not supplied NA only
Phone Number End user phone number to be associated with the emergency response location (address) and to be displayed as the call-back number at the PSAP E.164 format - leading + sign is optional Mandatory All countries
Name Employee or business name to be displayed as the caller name at the PSAP – Mandatory All countries
New Address ID Unique string identifying an individual emergency address – only for new addresses that have not been previously saved with Bandwidth 4-30 alphanumeric characters Optional – will be autogenerated by Bandwidth if not supplied All countries
Existing Address ID Unique string identifying an individual emergency address, previously created and stored with Bandwidth 4-30 alphanumeric characters

Conditional – not required if full address template is used

 All countries
Address Line 1 Primary address details, such as the street name and house/building number

 – Conditional – not required if existing address ID template is used All countries
Address Line 2 Additional address information, such as apartment numbers, suite numbers, or other address designators – Conditional – not required if there is no additional address information to provide or if the address ID template is used All countries
City or Locality City, town, or locality that contains the emergency address – Conditional – not required if existing address ID template is used All countries
State State that contains the emergency address 2-digit state code format Conditional – not required if existing address ID template is used NA only
Postcode Full postal designation – Conditional –not required if existing address ID template is used All countries
Country Code A3 3-letter code used to identify a country 3 alpha characters in ISO 3166-1 standard Conditional – required for NA, not required for RoW if existing address ID template is used All countries
Service

Service type to be activated with the provisioning request. This can be:

ES = Emergency Services only

 ES Optional – will default to “ES” if not supplied RoW only
Preferred Language Language preferred by the end user for verbal communication – this is not a guarantee but can be utilized by the PSAP in the event there is a call-taker that speaks the requested language 2 alpha characters in ISO 639-1 standard
EN
FR		 Conditional – will default to "EN" if not supplied NA only
VAT Number Corresponds to a customer’s business number “BE” prefix followed by 10 numeric characters Mandatory BEL only
Contact Language

Commercial communication language for certain countries. This can be:

NL = Dutch

FR = French

DE = German

EN = English

NL

FR

DE

EN

 Mandatory BEL only
Listing Language

Belgian official available languages for ad publication. This can be:

NL = Dutch

FR = French

DE = German

NL

FR

DE

 Mandatory BEL only
Organization Number Unique identification number assigned to every legal entity “16” prefix, max 12 numeric characters Mandatory SWE only

How do I add an address to an endpoint?

Every endpoint must have an associated emergency response location, which generally consists of an address plus any relevant additional location information.

An emergency response location consists of “address line 1”, which is the field used to collect the primary address details, such as the street name and house number, etc, and "address line 2”, which is the field used to collect additional address information, such as apartment numbers, suite numbers, or other address designators. For Emergency Services, address line 2 is also used to communicate other details that can help in identifying the exact location of the caller (ex: building A, cube 145). Here are a couple of examples using Bandwidth addresses:

US example

Address line 1: 2230 Bandmate Wy
Address line 2: Floor 5 Seat 100
City or Locality: Raleigh
State: NC
Postcode: 27607
Country Code A3: USA

UK example

Address line 1: 222 Bishopsgate
Address line 2: Suite 500
City or Locality: London
Postcode: EC2M 4Q
Country Code A3: GBR

When provisioning your endpoints, addresses can be created as new at the time of provisioning. Alternatively, you can create your addresses in advance in the Bandwidth App or via the API, where they will be validated and stored in Bandwidth, and you’ll be able to retrieve them at provisioning time using the address ID.

When creating your address at the time of endpoint provisioning, you will simply enter the required fields outlined in the table above during the provisioning process.

To create your address in advance via the Bandwidth App:

  1. Log in to the Bandwidth App.
  2. In the side navigation bar, click Emergency and select Addresses.
  3. Click Add at the top of the page.

  1. Under the Create New Address tab, select a country from the drop-down menu, complete the required fields, and click Continue.

  1. Click the checkbox below the address to confirm its accuracy, and click Save Address. 

Endpoint validation

Once you’ve submitted your endpoint provisioning request, the data must be validated before an endpoint is successfully provisioned and Emergency Services are activated.

Validation occurs in 2 stages:

  • Stage 1 validation confirms that all the data is accurate and verified by Bandwidth.
  • Stage 2 validation confirms that all the data is accurate and verified by the local service provider for non-North American (RoW) countries.

Failure and errors can occur at both stage 1 and stage 2. Here are a few tips to avoid validation failures:

  • For all non-North American countries, numbers must be owned in “My Numbers”.
  • The phone number associated with the endpoint must pass all upstream service activation requirements. Please see Service Activation on the Universal Platform for more details.
  • Mandatory fields must have a value.
  • Please follow the guidelines in the “Allowed values” in the table above for limitations on what can be entered for a given field.
  • The use of abbreviations for address line 1, city, or locality should be avoided as much as possible as they increase the risk of failing validation. Please note that this does not include address line 2, where abbreviations may be commonly used. 
  • Emergency Services are only available on supported number types. Please see Universal Platform Network Coverage for a list of what number types are supported in each country.

Provisioning status

You’ll receive real-time feedback as to whether provisioning was successful. On your Endpoint Records page in the  Bandwidth App, you’ll see a status column with one the following 3 statuses for each endpoint:

  • “Provisioned” for endpoints where all validation (stage 1 and 2) has been passed, ALI database has been updated, and Emergency Services are active.
  • “Pre-provisioned” for endpoints where stage 1 validation has passed, stage 2 validation is awaiting provider response, ALI database has not been updated, but Emergency Services are active.
    • This status is applicable for non-North American (RoW) endpoints where all data has passed validation on the Bandwidth side but is awaiting completion on our routing provider side.
    • Emergency calls will still route to the correct PSAP (based on the address provisioned with the endpoint) in this status.
  • “Needs update” for endpoints where stage 1 validation has passed, stage 2 validation has failed, and ALI database has not been updated, but Emergency Services are active.
    • This status is applicable for non-North American (RoW) endpoints where all data has passed validation on the Bandwidth side but is awaiting a correction or update on some piece of data for the routing provider.
    • Emergency calls will still route to the correct PSAP (based on the address provisioned with the endpoint) in this status.
    • Please open a ticket with your Bandwidth Support Team for help in resolving the needed update.
  • “Processing” for any endpoint where stage 1 validation has passed, stage 2 validation is pending, ALI database has not been updated, and Emergency Services are not yet active.
    • This status is applicable for non-North American (RoW) endpoints where all data has passed validation on the Bandwidth side, but there is a delay on the provider side in processing the request.
    • Once the delay has been resolved, the status will be updated to "provisioned" or “needs update”.

Provisioning for most countries will complete in near real-time if no errors occur. For API errors, please see the Unified API Integration Guide.

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