Location & Life Safety Policy / U-M Information and Technology Services

The University of Michigan is committed to protecting the safety of students, faculty, staff, and the community as they teach, learn, work, or visit our campuses. Part of ensuring life safety across campus is allowing Information and Technology Services (ITS) to provide the Department of Public Safety & Security (DPSS) accurate location and call-back information if individuals call 911 from our university phone numbers. This means that:

ITS will document initial location (e.g., campus, building, room, and floor) information for telecommunication devices when they are initially installed.
ITS will configure single lines with appearances in multiple locations such that individual locations have unique primary numbers and locations assigned to these numbers.
ITS will assign a "home" location for university-owned telecommunications devices or personal devices running university provisioned telephone service.
Units are required to update ITS if the location of a telecommunication device is changed over time.

This effort aligns with the university's Safety, Health, and Environmental Policy (SPG 605.01) which strives to improve safety practices in light of advances in technology and new understandings in safety, health, and environmental science.

Process

Depending on the type of telecommunications device, the process varies.

Zoom Softphones and Zoom Desksets

Zoom Phone at U-M is a downloadable softphone application that allows users to make and receive phone calls via the internet on mobile devices, laptops, and desktops. The service also supports physical desksets.

At the time of activation, the unit provides ITS with a default location which becomes the location data that ITS reports to DPSS for location and life safety purposes. This default location is normally a campus location, including building, floor, and room information.

Responsibility	Action
Unit	Enter default location information at the time of activation. Call 734-76(3-2000) to report a default location change for a physical deskset not assigned to an individual end-user.
End-User	If you routinely work at different campus buildings or personal locations, ITS recommends that you keep your addresses up-to-date. See Emergency Address Setup for instructions to set up your Personal or Work Emergency Addresses: Campus Address Example (which includes critical room information): Address Line 1: 1100 North University Address Line 2: Room 2534 It is recommended that you also enable Location Permissions for Zoom Phone. See Zoom Phone 911 Location Information on how to: Turn On Location Permissions on Windows Turn On Location Permissions on Mac Note: Physical Desksets will be automatically enabled with the correct location on campus. Additional information: See Zoom Phone and 911 Location Information
ITS	Update location and life safety information for all unit and end-user-provided address locations in university systems. Educate unit staff and faculty to consider using a cellular phone, if possible, when calling 911 when the softphone is away from the home location. First responders have a better chance of determining a location in this instance if the caller is unable to communicate.

Responsibility

Action

Unit

Enter default location information at the time of activation.
Call 734-76(3-2000) to report a default location change for a physical deskset not assigned to an individual end-user.

End-User

If you routinely work at different campus buildings or personal locations, ITS recommends that you keep your addresses up-to-date. See Emergency Address Setup for instructions to set up your Personal or Work Emergency Addresses:
Campus Address Example (which includes critical room information):
- Address Line 1: 1100 North University
- Address Line 2: Room 2534

It is recommended that you also enable Location Permissions for Zoom Phone. See Zoom Phone 911 Location Information on how to:

Note: Physical Desksets will be automatically enabled with the correct location on campus.

Additional information: See Zoom Phone and 911 Location Information

ITS

Update location and life safety information for all unit and end-user-provided address locations in university systems.
Educate unit staff and faculty to consider using a cellular phone, if possible, when calling 911 when the softphone is away from the home location. First responders have a better chance of determining a location in this instance if the caller is unable to communicate.

Traditional Telephone System Devices

Traditional phones use legacy dial tone connections to place phone calls.

Responsibility	Action
Unit	Create an Service Request System request or call 734-76(3-2000) to request a phone location change.
ITS	Move the line and/or device to the new location. Update location and life safety information in university systems.

Voice Over IP (VoIP) Telephones

VoIP phones use the data network to place phone calls.

Responsibility	Action
Unit	Create an Service Request System request or call 734-76(3-2000) to report an upcoming phone location change, or call 734-76(3-2000) to report a location change that has already occurred.
ITS	Update location and life safety information in university systems.

Softphones or WiFi Telephones

Softphones are applications running on a device (e.g., computer, tablet, cellular phone) used to make voice calls.

WiFi phones are VoIP handsets that use a WiFi connection instead of a hard-wired connection to communicate with the university telecommunications system.

At the time of activation, the unit provides ITS with a "home" location which becomes the default location data ITS reports to DPSS for location and life safety purposes. Campus "home" locations typically include building, floor, and room information.

Responsibility	Action
Unit	Call 734-76(3-2000) to report a "home" location change.
ITS	Update location and life safety information for the "home" location in university systems. Educate unit staff and faculty to consider using a cellular phone, if possible, when calling 911 when the soft or WiFi phone is away from the home location. First responders have a better chance of determining a location in this instance if the caller is unable to communicate.

Cellular Telephones

In some cases university employees are using university issued or personal cellular phones for university business. ITS is not responsible for maintaining location information held by cellular vendors.

The university shall not be held liable or responsible for any damages resulting from the inability to precisely identify a user's location while using these phones. Units are expected to communicate these expectations to faculty and staff.