Overview

The goal of VoIP Detective's emergency alerts is to have a range of numbers mapped to an email address, so for example, all extension that start with 42 would email the manager at that location.   This way you are able to have a local office notified for calls from its extension range, but that office will not be notified for calls outside of it's range.




Warning

VoIP Detective should not be used to dispatch emergency services - the emergency alerts built into VoIP Detective are for notification only.  VoIP Detective recommends a program such as Cisco's Emergency responder to assist in dispatching emergency services.  An overview of how emergency alerts occur:

  1. A user dials emergency services.
  2. Once the call completes, CUCM creates a call record.
  3. CUCM sends that record to VoIP Detective.
  4. VoIP Detective processes this record, and flags a call to emergency services.
  5. VoIP Detective sends an email through your organization's email server.


When things work well, a notification email is generally received within five minutes of an emergency call completing.  It is important to point out that before an alert is started, the call to emergency services must end - that is when CUCM will create the CDR.


Default Alert Address

There is a default emergency alert that cannot be deleted.  This is the alert that is sent whenever an emergency call is made (i.e. matches any calling pattern).  This address is notified in addition to any configured emergency alert patterns.


Create a new emergency alert 

Here you specify the alert to be created.  Each field is mandatory.  

  • Calling Extension Pattern : Pattern that must be matched to activate this email notification. Should be entered as one or more number followed by Xs, and the length should match your extension length.
    If the calling number is 33123, then 33XXX would match this pattern. 333XX, or 33XX would NOT match this pattern. Maximum of 32 characters, however this should be no longer than your extension length.
  • Notification Email Address : Email address or addresses that should receive an alert for this pattern. If entering multiple email addresses, please use comma a separated list ([email protected],[email protected]). Maximum of 255 characters.
  • Description : A description of this alerting pattern. Only used to help you, the admin identify the purpose for this alert. Maximum of 32 characters.


Emergency Alert Field

CUCM writes several fields into the CDR, and two of these are the final called party number (the number that is ultimately called, after all translations are made), as well as the original called part number (what was originally dialed).

VoIP Detective offers the ability to send emergency alerts based on either what was originally dialed, or the translated number.



Tips and Tricks

You can test out the emergency alert system by adding your cell phone as an emergency alert number.  For example, make the emergency alert numbers 911,<your cell phone>.  After that, any call to your cell phone will trigger the VoIP Detective emergency alert process