How is an e911 call placed?

[FirstCup]

How is an e911 call placed?
I have not been able to find an Arlo support article with any information about placing an actual e911call so I am here.

I have two property locations (WA & CA) with ten arlo pro 2 cameras on one Arlo Smart Premier account. I have the Arlo app setup on a PC, ipad wifi only, ipad wifi & data and an iphone iOS 12.1.4. The e911 address is set to the Washington property.

I am thinking the e911 is a Voice over IP call so it will be placed from any of my devices from any location as long as I have a wifi or data connection and I will hope I will be able to converse 2 way with the 911 operator voip nearest the property address listed in Arlo. Am I correct in making this assumption?

So if I push the right buttons my call should go through. On the other hand the Call a Friend feature is just a cell call and will dial through my cell provider as any other call would?

Thanks, Terry

[AncientGeek]

It seems likely to me that the call would originate from the Arlo cloud computers and not our homes at all.  They could have a special system set up to allow them to send the address to the E911 dispatch center that serves the address we enter.  Otherwise they would essentially need to create a phone number for our Arlo systems and register that phone number with E911.  I guess that is possible either locally or in the cloud.  No matter either way.

[FirstCup]

Thanks for the reply. However you seem to be on the forum a lot and as you can see by the many posts things do not always work as advertised with arlo. I have had my Arlo system about a year and a half and have stumbled over many issues and had not gotten around to checking this e911 out, now I am ready. I am trying to figure out how I will be able to tell someone my problems a 1000 miles away in a time of need. I do not see anywhere in Arlo documentation that explains the process of doing this. What will happen when I hit that e911 button! How do I know it is happening? Will I actually speak with that local 911 operator? and I want to be able to check this out at some point to verify it is working.

[JessicaP]

Hi @FirstCup,

For more information about how e911 works, you can read about it here: What is the Arlo Smart e911 feature and how does it work? Or you can watch the video about e911 here: Respond to Emergencies Quickly with e911 | Arlo Smart

[karthiksrdk]

Does arlo call e911 automatically as and when it detects a security breach?

[AncientGeek]

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@karthiksrdk wrote:

Does arlo call e911 automatically as and when it detects a security breach?

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No.  And you definitely would not want it to do that.   Even professionally installed burglar alarms don’t do that.  And the police would not allow it due to the high ratio of false alarms to real security events.  Arlo will allow you to call 911 from the app once you have validated there is a real problem.