Jack,

All Avaya phones are capable of dialing 911.  Please open a ticket with our customer service group so we can investigate this particular incident.  Their number is 3-5515 (or you can call our campus operators after hours at 5-1855).

MSU Telecom Systems tests its connections to 911 on the Avaya phone system on a very regular basis (depending on the time of year, daily).  We do know, however that the 911 center has had more volume than normal in addition to their move to their new consolidated location for the county.    

For everybody :  On ANY Avaya telephone, you can ALWAYS dial 9-1-1, or 8-911.  The PSAP (911 Center) will get your phone number and location, specific to your room location.  The location that is provided to the 911 center is the same as on your monthly phone bill.   Please make sure to verify your phone bill on a regular basis to make sure the physical location of your phone matches our, and 911’s records.   This is extremely important as of late as East Lansing will no longer be handling our 911 calls – people less experienced with campus will soon be taking over this responsibility.   

-Nick Kwiatkowski

MSU Telecom Systems

From: Kramer, Jack [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, August 29, 2011 10:18 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MSUNAG] Dialing 911 from Avaya phones

Little concerned – saw a motorcycle accident outside Olds Hall this morning and tried dialing 911 from an Avaya desk phone and got nothing. No ring tone, no call success, just sat there on a partially dialed line. Tried 8-911 for an outside line and also got nothing. I ended up having to dial 5-2221 for the non-emergency dispatch and transferring over to 911 dispatch from there. Shouldn't the Avaya phones be capable of dialing 911?

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Jack Kramer
Manager of Information Technology
University Relations, Michigan State University
w: 517-884-1231 / c: 248-635-4955