Avaya Workplace VoIP Terms of Use

A knowledge base article about Avaya Workplace VoIP Terms of Use provided by the UC Berkeley IT Service Hub - Knowledge Portal

Do NOT use Avaya Workplace to place 911 calls.

The following disclaimer from the Telecom Department at UCB relates to emergency service dialing and use of our VoIP services. All Telecom customers who sign up for The Avaya Workplace service must acknowledge that they have read and understand this VoIP disclaimer in concert with FCC rules regarding e911 service.

In some areas, 911 operators automatically receive the phone number or location of a VoIP call, but in many areas, that is not yet the case. Technology that will provide that information – Enhanced 911 or E911 – is currently being implemented, but is not yet available in many parts of the country.

The FCC has taken steps to close this gap by imposing Enhanced 911 (E911) obligations on providers of “interconnected” VoIP services.

Interconnected VoIP services are those that use the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), including wireless networks, to originate and terminate calls. E911 systems automatically provide to emergency service personnel a 911 caller’s call back number and, in most cases, location information.

Important: Not all 911 emergency centers can receive location information from our campus VoIP service. Because of this challenge, we require that our customers do not use the campus VoIP solution to call for 911 help.

Per FCC rules, we are disclosing the following information to our customers:

Deliver all 911 calls to the local emergency call center; which in our case, currently only goes to UCPD at this time. When you are outside the campus, it is required that you use a different phone to dial for emergency help.
Deliver the customer’s call back number and location information where the emergency call center is capable of receiving it; we currently do not have that in place with UCPD. It may be done at a future time.
Inform their customers of the capabilities and limitations of their VoIP 911 service. We have listed the limitations above.

1. Inform All Present.

You should inform all household residents, guests and other third persons who may be present at the physical location (off campus) where you utilize the campus VoIP service or Avaya Workplace that it is not to be used for e911 service or purposes.

2. Service Outages.

(a) Service Outages Due to Power Failure or Disruption. VoIP E911 service does not function in the event of a power failure or disruption. If there is an interruption in the power supply, the campus VoIP service will not function until power is restored.

(b) Service Outages Due to Internet Outage or Suspension or Disconnection of Broadband Service or Internet Service Provider (“ISP”) Service. Service outages or suspensions or disconnections of service by your broadband provider or ISP will prevent all Service, including VoIP E911 service, from functioning.

3. Network Congestion & Reduced Speed.

There may be a greater possibility of network congestion and/or reduced speed in the routing of a VoIP 911 service call made utilizing campus VoIP service as compared to traditional 911 dialing over traditional public telephone networks.

4. Disclaimer of Liability and Indemnification.

We do not have any control over whether, or the manner in which, calls to 911 using our VoIP service are answered or addressed by any local emergency response center. We disclaim all responsibility for the conduct of local emergency response centers and the national emergency calling center. We rely on third parties to assist us in routing VoIP 911 calls to local emergency response centers and to a national emergency calling center. We disclaim any and all liability or responsibility in the event such third party data used to route calls is incorrect or yields an erroneous result. Neither IST Telecom and its staff, UCB, or UCPD may be held liable for any claim, damage, or loss, and you hereby waive any and all such claims or causes of action, arising from or relating to calls to 911 from our VoIP service unless such claims or causes of action arose from our gross negligence, recklessness or willful misconduct. You shall defend, indemnify, and hold harmless IST Telecom, UCB, or UCPD and its representatives, who furnishes services to you in connection with Avaya Workplace service, from any and all claims, losses, damages, fines, penalties, costs, and expenses (including, without limitation, attorneys fees by, or on behalf of, you or any third party relating to the absence, failure or outage of, including VoIP 911 service, incorrectly routed 911 calls, and/or the inability of any user to access emergency service personnel.

5. Alternate 911 Arrangements.

If you are not comfortable with the limitations of the VoIP 911 service which only goes to UCPD, please ensure that you have an alternate means of accessing traditional 911 or E911 services when you are off campus or working remotely from home or elsewhere.

Questions? Send email to telecom@berkeley.edu