9-1-1 Testing

Northern911 encourages your company to test your system anytime you implement something new or change a process that may have an effect on a 911 call being routed to us.

Testing by the end user is not encouraged, as this unnecessarily ties up our equipment and our staff and may slow our response to a real emergency. If your company has established an interconnection with Northern911 which has been tested, any new users should be a part of that connection.  There should be no difference from one customer to another.

Standard procedures to schedule test calls with our Emergency Response Centre are as follows. If you are making less than 5 test calls, you may simply place your test calls without scheduling in advance (see below instructions for placing test calls). Testing is a low priority task and if we are experiencing high call volumes or other issues, you will be advised to cease testing and reschedule later.

Scheduling test calls:

  1. For VoIP & Other 911 testing, call (866) 763-0911. For NG911 / E911 testing from traditional landlines or cell phones, call (844) 218-7727.
  2. Advise the Emergency Response Specialist who answers, that you would like to schedule a test call.
  3. Provide the following information:
    • Your name
    • The Phone Service Provider or Company Name
    • The number of test calls
    • The caller ID(s) that the test calls will be coming from
    • A callback number for yourself
    • Confirm whether or not you need to be transferred to Police, Fire or Ambulance and for which area. Note:  You must advise the PSAP and Police / Fire / or Ambulance for that area of your test as well if it is not Northern911.  Only once those arrangements are made will we transfer to the downstream agency.
    • Requested date and time to perform the tests.

Placing test calls:

  1. Regular testing is to be conducted between the hours of 10am and 10pm Eastern Time (ET).  Only 1 person should test at a time and should generally leave 2-5 minutes between calls.
  2. Avoid testing from a loud area or where multiple people are talking.  Speak directly to the call taker and complete your call in a timely manner.
  3. Once a call taker is reached, the caller must advise that it is a test and identify themselves.  If this is not done, Northern911 may transfer the call to the downstream emergency agency.
  4. Confirm the following information:
    • That the call came in on the correct account
    • The audio quality
    • The caller ID received
    • The address displayed to our call taker.  For VoIP 911 & Other calls, the address must be pre-loaded into our database for the displayed caller ID or pushed to us at call time.
  5. Repeat if necessary.
  6. Advise when you have completed your testing.

If you need further information on our 911 Official Testing Procedures, please email info@northern911.com.