Starting Sept. 21, the Microsoft Teams desktop app will include a new emergency location field that automatically detects the physical location of employees who are logged on to the King County network onsite at any King County facility. The emergency location field will automatically update when an employee brings their laptop to a different floor, or to a different King County facility. This new feature allows 911 emergency services to locate callers faster and more efficiently.

For employees working offsite or remotely ​(not in County facilities), the emergency location field will not automatically detect or update your physical location. Instead, employees may choose to manually enter a physical location in the emergency location field; however, any changes must be updated manually.

If you are working offsite or remotely, using the Teams app on your laptop to call 911 is NOT recommended; for your safety, please use a cell phone or landline.

Emergency location information cannot be used to track employees and will not be visible to anyone but 911 responders. Additionally, emergency location information is not discoverable, searchable, or retained for public records disclosure. Microsoft has added this feature to support compliance with the United States FCC requirements for Ray Baum’s Act.