SANTA CLARA, CA — (Marketwired) — 02/16/16 — On the 48th anniversary of the first 9-1-1 emergency call in the U.S., Avaya today celebrates the latest milestone for Kari–s Law, a bipartisan bill that would allow all callers to reach 9-1-1 without dialing a prefix or postfix. The bill, first introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives on December 3, 2015 by Congressman Louie Gohmert (TX-01), found its way to the Senate floor on February 11, 2016 by way of Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Deb Fischer (R-NE) as it continues its journey to one day become a law.

In 2013, Kari Rene Hunt was murdered by her estranged husband in a hotel room in Texas. When Kari–s 9-year-old daughter tried to dial 9-1-1 for help, she could not reach emergency services because the multi-line telephone system (MLTS) she used required her to dial “9” to reach an outside line. Through Kari–s Law, all MLTS vendors and all buildings that use MLTS would be required to enable all callers to directly dial 9-1-1 without additional digits or local interception while notifying onsite personnel that a 9-1-1 call was made.

“When a 9-year-old child is brave, mature and determined enough to call 911 in an emergency, she should be answered,” said Hank Hunt, Kari–s father. “Kari–s Law has been successful at every juncture in the past two years because of the help and involvement of Avaya. To have an ally such as Avaya, in a goal such as this, is a sure winner. The caring and thoughtful gestures given to us from Avaya are scarce attributes in a corporation. The knowledge and experience Avaya brings to the table is re-assuring, and the confidence that we have knowing this kind of institution is behind us is comforting.”

“We have the heritage, skills, software and knowledge to bring urgent response and community engagement to every customer that we serve,” said Kevin Kennedy, President and CEO of Avaya. “Direct access to emergency services remains a core necessity in any communications environment. As a long-time provider of 9-1-1 communications technology, we strongly advocate for the passage of Kari–s Law. We commend our legislators for their swift action in bringing Kari–s Law forward.”

The first 9-1-1 emergency call was placed in Haleyville, Ala. on February 16, 1968. Forty-eight years later, there are now more than 6,800 Public Safety Answer Points (PSAPs) in the U.S. today.

Avaya is a leading provider of solutions that enable customer and team engagement across multiple channels and devices for better customer experience, increased productivity and enhanced financial performance. Its world-class contact center and unified communications technologies and services are available in a wide variety of flexible on-premises and cloud deployment options that seamlessly integrate with non-Avaya applications. The Avaya Engagement Environment enables third parties to create and customize business applications for competitive advantage. The Avaya fabric-based networking solutions help simplify and accelerate the deployment of business critical applications and services. For more information please visit .

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  911, avaya, emergency-communications, first-responders, kari-s-law