Enhanced 911 (E911) is a service that allows emergency operators to provide better assistance to people calling 911 from their mobile phones. It provides emergency operators with more specific information about your location and displays your mobile phone number to emergency operators.
When you call 911 from your mobile phone:
- Provide your complete mobile phone number, including the area code, so that information can be passed on to emergency operators
- Give your location and the location of the emergency
- Stay on the line with the operator (911 calls are not billed)
- If disconnected, leave your phone on for call-backs
- If you’re underground or too far from a network antenna, your signal quality may be affected and you may not be able to connect to the network
To avoid making accidental emergency calls, don't program 911 into your phone.
E911 service locations
TELUS E911 service is currently accessible in most of Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, PEI, Saskatchewan, the Greater Winnipeg area of Manitoba and the Greater Halifax area of Nova Scotia.
E911 is not yet available in Newfoundland due to limitations with landline network capabilities.
If E911 is not yet available in your area, you will be able to access it when you roam into E911 coverage areas.
E911 Phase 1
Displays your mobile phone number to emergency operators as well as the location of the cellular site carrying your call.
All phones and smartphones support E911 Phase 1.E911 Phase 2
Provides improved location information to emergency operators. While Phase 1 is able to give the tower location, Phase 2 can also provide the longitude and latitude of the caller.
E911 calls from mobile phones are subject to the same limitations as regular calls from mobile phones. For example, if you’re underground or too far from a network antenna, your signal quality may be affected and you may not be able to connect to the network.
E911 and VoIP Apps for Android Devices
There is a potential issue affecting 911 calling from certain Android devices with downloaded VoIP applications such as Viber or Skype. You may be unable complete calls to 911 if you have downloaded one of these apps and have made it the default call dialer on your device.
When you attempt to dial 911, the app dialer cannot process the call, because for 911 calls the VoIP application will revert back to the phone dialer to connect the call. However, if you have adjusted your settings to "Always use the app dialer", the phone dialer will send the call back to the VoIP app. A loop results, and the 911 call cannot be connected.
The settings within the application must be changed and ‘Just Once’ should be the default dialer setting.
Please do not dial 9-1-1 to test your device.
How to change your dialer settings
From your Android device:- Tap Settings
- Tap Application Manager
- Tap on the Menu button on the device
- Tap Reset app preferences
- Tap Reset apps
Note: When using a VoIP app such as Skype or Viber, always press “Just Once” when prompted for use as the default dialer. This will ensure you are able to successfully place a 9-1-1 call if required.
We are committed protecting our customers and notifying them of any issues that impact emergency 911 calling from their TELUS devices. Google has indicated that this is a global problem and they are working with these app developers to fix this issue.
