1. Protect employees, vendors, visitors and assets

A fire, act of violence or employee accident can have a devastating impact emotionally and financially on an organization. Beyond the direct expense of loss of life and property in a crisis, operations are often significantly disrupted. According to a survey by the Liberty Mutual Group, about two-thirds of employers report a threefold savings for every dollar invested in safety.

2. Crisis liability

More than two million people suffer from on-the-job violence annually, which costs employers $36 billion. Court decisions have held institutions and managers personally liable for safety negligence. A jury recently awarded $50 million to the family of a wrongful death victim because the city did not get an ambulance to the asthma sufferer's home on time. A study by Liability Consultants found the average jury verdict for a rape on business property to be $1.2 million and for a workplace death to be $2.2 million.

3. It's the law

Many states have adopted E911 legislation. In Illinois, for example, non-compliant businesses could face fines of up to $5,000. In Minnesota, OSHA can levy fines against businesses for negligence of workplace safety measures. Most states are considering regulations with encouragement from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Industry groups, led by the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) and the National Emergency Number Association (NENA), are lobbying legislators for more strict regulations for E911 protection.

4. Corporate imperative

Owners and managers are now being held to a higher standard of care concerning the safety of their employees, tenants and guests. According to an executive at a Fortune 500 company: "You enter the situation thinking about compliance and liability…but then you come out of the situation with a good feeling that you will have helped save a life or head off a tragedy."

APCO is among the groups leading the fight for mandatory nationwide adoption of E911 systems. Following are real-life situations collected by APCO, underscoring the need for businesses to have a system that provides location-specific information from a 911 caller:

• Phoenix: A woman had a heart attack and collapsed at an American Express office. Co-workers tried to call 911 for help, but the company's phone system blocked such calls because the company wanted employees to call an in-house emergency number instead. Emergency help was delayed. A lawsuit followed.
• San Francisco: A gunman entered a high-rise, killed eight people and wounded six on three floors before encountering police and killing himself. The disgruntled employee started shooting people he encountered on the 34th floor and continued to two other floors. Due to a shared telephone system, dispatchers thought the incident was in the building next door. Many of the initial 911 calls were hang-ups because the caller had been shot or was hiding. Some callers were too hysterical to identify their location. Police finally searched floor-by-floor of the correct building to locate the shooter.
• St. Paul: An incident at a private college prompted campus authorities to install an E911 software solution because a student was threatening suicide and they were unable to locate the individual based on his phone number. To find the student, police had to search the dorms room-by-room until they found the student. Fortunately, the student did not commit suicide.
• Clay County: While visiting a county building, a woman was suddenly gripped by a seizure, rendering her speechless. A by-stander called 911, and when questioned by the dispatcher to validate the address of the distressed, realized that the dispatch center was receiving a different building address. Had the caller been speechless like the victim, tragedy would likely have ensued. Immediately following the incident, the county began to evaluate 911 solutions.