Call is a generic term referring to any request for public safety assistance, regardless of the media used to make that request. This term may appear in conjunction with specific media, such as “voice Call,” “video Call,” “text Call,” or “data-only Call” when the specific media is of importance. The term “non-interactive Call” refers to an emergency Call that is initiated automatically, carries data, does not establish a two-way interactive media session, and typically does not involve a human at the “initiating” end.[1]

Types of Calls
Call Type Definition
Abandoned Call An emergency Call in which the caller disconnects before the Call can be answered by the PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point).[1]
Answered Call A Call (excluding non-human-initiated Calls) that has been answered by an Agent and two-way communication has been established, irrespective of whether the Call was auto-answered for the Agent or if an auto-greeting message was played. For a non-human-initiated Call, that Call may be accepted by an automaton.[1]
Attempted Call A Call presented to an FE (such as a Call Handling Functional Element) regardless of whether successful completion status was achieved.[1]
Diverted Call A Call that was rerouted due to the nominal destination’s unavailability or inability to accept. Calls may be diverted for conditions that are scheduled (e.g., maintenance, hours the PSAP is not staffed), or for events that cannot be scheduled (e.g., equipment failure, network failure, disasters).[1]

Related Terms:

Call Diversion

The process that results in a diverted call.

Misrouted Call A Call routed to a PSAP that should not have received it due to a provisioning error (for example in the ECRF, in the PRF, or the LIS) or other misconfigurations.[1] [2]
Nomadic VoIP Call A Call generated by a VoIP user other than their originally provisioned fixed location using the terminal equipment from that location (i.e., VoIP handset, laptop, VoIP terminal, PC).[3]
Prematurely Disconnected Call An Answered Call that terminated before the parties have finished their conversation.[1]


Relevant NENA Documents
Note: To find and download the document, copy the document number (like STA-010) from below and search the NENA Standards and Documents page.


  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 NENA-STA-019, NENA NG9-1-1 Call Processing Metrics Standard
  2. NENA-STA-020, NENA Standard for 9-1-1 Call Processing
  3. NENA 03-507, ESQK Guidelines for VoIP to E9-1-1 Connectivity