Emergency Calls, the IPND and Directory Listings

How emergency calls work on the voice services we supply, what we send to the Integrated Public Number Database, and what partners must do to keep it accurate.

Check Networks allocates and ports the Australian numbers used on our SIP trunking, Hosted PBX and virtual mobile services, and we supply the customer data behind those numbers to the Integrated Public Number Database (IPND). The IPND is what emergency services and directory operators rely on. The obligations below flow to every partner who supplies our voice services to end users.

Emergency calls (000) over VoIP

Calls to 000 from our voice services are carried to the emergency call service. Because these are internet-based services, they behave differently from a traditional landline, and your end users must be told:

Location. The emergency operator is given the service address we hold for the number in the IPND. If the phone is used somewhere else, for example a softphone on a laptop or a handset moved to another site, the address given to the operator will be wrong unless it has been updated.
Power and internet outages. The service will not make calls, including to 000, if the premises loses power or its internet connection. End users should have an alternative, such as a mobile phone, for emergencies.
Number presentation. Calls to 000 present the service’s own number so the operator can call back.

What we send to the IPND

For every active Australian number we hold: the customer name, the service address, the type of service, and the listing status.
Changes are sent as a daily update. A new number, a ported number, a change of address, a change of service type and a disconnection each generate an IPND record.
A number cannot be activated or ported on our platform until a service address has been recorded for it and validated. The validation checks that the suburb, state and postcode are consistent with each other. It does not require the address to match a mapping database, so a genuinely new address is never rejected.
IPND records are retained for at least 7 years.

What partners must do

Record the correct service address for every number when you order or port it: the physical location where the service is used, not a billing or postal address.
Update the address when the service moves. Change it in the partner portal or by API as soon as you know, and before the service is used at the new location. The change flows to the IPND with the next daily update.
Tell your end users about the 000 limitations above at the point of sale and in your terms, and remind them that their service address must be kept current.
Record the listing preference. If an end user wants an unlisted number, tell us when the number is ordered or ported so the listing status is recorded correctly.
Keep customer names accurate. The name held against a number is what appears in the IPND; a company name should be the legal or trading name of the end user.

If a service address is wrong, an emergency call from that service may be sent to the wrong location. Check the addresses on your account regularly, and contact us immediately if you find an error you cannot correct yourself.

Directory listings

Directory publishers obtain listing information from the IPND. A number recorded as listed may appear in public directories; an unlisted number will not. Listing status is recorded per number and can be changed through the partner portal or by contacting us.

Contact

For address corrections, listing changes or questions about the IPND: