Phone, 911 and Intercom Systems for Cities and Counties
One vendor for every building, department and emergency line.
Ambit designs and supports phone, 911, paging and intercom systems for city halls, county offices, public works, utilities, police, fire, emergency management and 911 dispatch centers across the Southeast. One vendor, one platform and one support team for every building you run.
24/7 U.S.-based support. FCC-licensed carrier. ISO 9001 certified.
Government phone systems get inherited, not designed
Most cities and counties never chose their phone system all at once. The courthouse annex got one vendor, the police department another, and the water department kept its old PBX. The result is aging hardware, several support contracts, uneven 911 location data and no plan for the day the internet goes down.
Six problems we see in government phone systems
Aging hardware nobody can support
Outdated phone hardware with limited support and rising maintenance costs.
Several vendors, no single owner
Complicated vendor relationships and nobody accountable when a problem crosses systems.
Inaccurate 911 location information
Calls that route to the right center but carry the wrong building, floor or room.
Different systems in different buildings
Multiple phone systems across city halls, annexes, yards and stations.
No reliable failover plan
No plan for keeping calls and 911 available when the internet goes down.
Rising maintenance costs
Repair and support bills that grow every year for equipment that is falling behind.
What stands behind the work
Support, quality and public-sector experience you can check.
U.S.-based support
carrier for SIP trunking
certified
Coffee County’s first project with Ambit, its move from analog phones to VoIP
Phones, 911, paging and the connections between them
Modern phones for city halls, county offices, departments and remote staff, with simple administration.
Replace aging lines with one service from an FCC-licensed carrier, and keep your numbers and your existing phone system.
Dispatchable location on 911 calls from government buildings, including floor and room.
Desk phones, softphones, mobile apps, voicemail to email and video meetings on one platform.
A structured review of how your 911 calls route and what location data they carry.
From the 911 dispatch center to the courthouse
Ambit serves 911 dispatch centers as well as government buildings. Whether the call lands on a dispatcher’s console or a clerk’s desk phone, it should route correctly and carry the right location. We support both sides of that call path, and we use the same design, testing and support process for each.
Departments that cannot miss a call
Police, fire, emergency management, public works and utilities each run their phones differently. A detective at Pelham Police Department described what their Ambit system handles: ring groups, hunt groups, voicemail for field personnel, voicemail blasts for mass notifications and remote dialing.
We build the same kind of call handling around each department, and we stay on the line after hours. Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency singled out an Ambit technician for working an after-hours emergency request.
Call handling built for public safety
Ring groups and hunt groups
Route calls to the right people and keep ringing until someone answers.
Voicemail for field personnel
Reach officers and crews in the field with virtual voicemail.
Voicemail blasts
Send mass notifications to your staff by voicemail blast.
Remote dialing
Place calls through your system from anywhere.
Call recording
Record police, dispatch and administrative lines so supervisors can review exact conversations.
After-hours emergency support
24/7 U.S.-based support for emergency requests at any hour.
What a government 911 call has to carry
When someone dials 911 from a government building, the call should route correctly and carry the right location.
| Requirement | What it means for a government building |
|---|---|
| Direct dialing | Kari’s Law requires multi-line phone systems to let people dial 911 directly, with no prefix. |
| On-site notification | The same law requires notice to a central location on site when a call is made. |
| Dispatchable location | Ray Baum’s Act requires location detail to travel with 911 calls from fixed phones, down to floor and room. |
A courthouse, an annex and a public works yard each need their own location data. We map each building, configure each phone and test the call path. See our Kari’s Law guide, our NG911 guide and our NG911 compliance and audit program.
How a phone system replacement works
1. Assess what you have
We review your phones, lines, 911 data and failover.
2. Design around your buildings
We design the system around your facilities, departments and operations.
3. Install and migrate
We install and cut over on a schedule that fits your operations.
4. Train and support
We train your staff and support them 24/7. Coffee County’s IT director said Ambit trained their employees twice.
What cities and counties say about working with Ambit
Coffee County Commission first partnered with Ambit in 2016, when it moved from analog service to VoIP. A detective at Pelham Police Department wrote that Ambit stayed on site during a vendor system upgrade and solved problems that were other vendors’ responsibility.
“Ambit Solutions has been just that, a solution!”
Detective, Pelham Police Department
“If it were not for the excellent service and knowledge of Craig Reeves and his staff, it could have been a disaster!”
IT Director, Coffee County Commission
“Ambit Solutions has one of the best, if not the very best, Customer Service departments I have had the pleasure of working with.”
Dispatch Supervisor, City of Columbiana
Buy through TIPS contract 230105
Ambit holds TIPS contract 230105, Technology Solutions, Products and Services, in effect through May 31, 2028. See Ambit’s TIPS vendor profile.
Who can use it
TIPS members, which include public entities and qualifying nonprofits, can buy through the contract where the laws of their jurisdiction allow.
Spending federal funds
TIPS marks Ambit’s contract EDGAR compliant, meaning Ambit agreed to the federal grant contract provisions (2 CFR 200). Members must still do any required cost or price analysis, such as for purchases over $250,000.
How to order
Email your purchase order and Ambit’s quote to tipspo@tips-usa.com, and reference TIPS contract 230105 on both.
We can also respond to your bid or quote request. Cooperative purchasing rules differ by city, county and state, so confirm yours with your purchasing department or attorney.
Government phone system frequently asked questions
Straight answers, with the source for each one.
Does Kari’s Law apply to city and county phone systems?
Kari’s Law applies to multi-line telephone systems, and a government building’s phone system is one. It requires direct 911 dialing with no prefix and notification to a central location on site. Our Kari’s Law guide covers who is covered and how to check your buildings.
What is dispatchable location?
Dispatchable location is the information that tells a 911 center where to send help: a validated street address plus details such as building, floor and room. Ray Baum’s Act requires it for 911 calls from fixed phones. See our NG911 guide.
Can you replace our phone system without disrupting departments?
We plan the cutover around your operations and migrate department by department, with Ambit staff available while you switch.
Can we keep our existing phones and change only the carrier lines?
Yes. SIP trunking replaces legacy carrier lines and works with your existing phone system. See our SIP trunking page.
What happens to phones and 911 when the internet goes down?
Cellular failover keeps outbound calling and 911 available when the internet goes down, and on-premise intercoms keep running. See our cellular failover page.
Do you support police and dispatch lines?
Yes. We offer call recording, ring groups, hunt groups, voicemail for field personnel, voicemail blasts and remote dialing, with 24/7 U.S.-based support.
Do you serve 911 dispatch centers?
Yes. We serve 911 dispatch centers as well as government buildings. Our NG911 compliance and audit program applies to government entities.
Can we buy through a cooperative contract?
Ambit holds TIPS contract 230105, in effect through May 31, 2028. TIPS members can buy through it where the laws of their jurisdiction allow, so confirm with your purchasing department or attorney. See Ambit’s TIPS vendor profile.
What does a free communications audit cover?
A conversation about your phones, 911 setup, failover and carrier contracts, so we can show you where one platform would fit. Pick a time on our calendar.
Sources and further reading
Let’s look at your phones, your 911 setup and your failover plan
Schedule a free communications audit and tell us what your city, county or department needs.
