How to Configure Teams Phone Emergency Civic Addresses in PowerShell Using CsOnlineLisCivicAddress

In enterprise telecommunications and cloud telephony deployments, ensuring life safety compliance during emergency calls (such as 999 in the United Kingdom or 911 in North America) is a legal and regulatory requirement under standards such as RAY BAUM’S Act and Kari’s Law. When a user dials an emergency service from Microsoft Teams, the Microsoft Phone System must transmit dispatchable location metadata to public safety answering points (PSAP). In Microsoft Teams Phone, the Location Information Service (LIS) maintains the database of validated physical addresses. Before subnets, wireless access points, or user telephone numbers can be mapped to physical buildings, voice administrators must create and validate Master Street Address Guide (MSAG) compliant civic addresses. Using the Microsoft Teams PowerShell module with cmdlets like New-CsOnlineLisCivicAddress, Set-CsOnlineLisCivicAddress, and Get-CsOnlineLisCivicAddress, administrators can deploy, geocode, and audit emergency locations at scale.

Architecture of the Teams Location Information Service (LIS)

The Teams Location Information Service operates through a two-tiered geographic hierarchy:

• Civic Addresses: Represents the validated physical street address of a corporate property (including country, state/county, city, street name, house number, and postal code). Teams validates civic addresses against authoritative postal databases before allowing them to be bound to emergency policies.
• Places (Sub-Locations): Specific indoor locations within a civic address—such as building wings, floors, suite numbers, or conference rooms (configured via New-CsOnlineLisLocation).
• Network Identifier Binding: Civic addresses and sub-locations are dynamically associated with enterprise network infrastructure (IPv4/IPv6 subnets via CsTenantNetworkSubnet, Wi-Fi BSSIDs, Ethernet switch chassis IDs, and switch port IDs). When a Teams client connects to an office network, it queries the LIS to dynamically inherit the matching emergency dispatch address.

Connecting to the Microsoft Teams PowerShell Module

To administer tenant emergency calling infrastructure, launch an elevated PowerShell session and authenticate with appropriate administrative credentials:

# Install or update the Microsoft Teams module
Install-Module -Name MicrosoftTeams -Scope CurrentUser -Repository PSGallery -Force

# Authenticate to your Microsoft 365 tenant
Connect-MicrosoftTeams

Ensure the executing account holds the Teams Administrator role in Microsoft Entra ID.

Auditing Existing Emergency Civic Addresses

Before adding new corporate facilities, review the current inventory of civic addresses registered within your tenant:

# Retrieve all existing civic addresses
Get-CsOnlineLisCivicAddress

# Display formatted addresses along with their validation status
Get-CsOnlineLisCivicAddress | Select-Object CivicAddressId, Description, StreetNumber, StreetName, City, StateOrProvince, PostalCode, IsValid

Observe the IsValid field. Only addresses reporting IsValid: True can be associated with active emergency calling policies and user telephone numbers.

Creating and Validating a New Emergency Civic Address

To provision a new physical corporate location, execute New-CsOnlineLisCivicAddress, providing complete street-level metadata:

# Create a validated emergency civic address for a UK corporate office
$newAddress = New-CsOnlineLisCivicAddress -Description "London Corporate Headquarters" `
    -CountryOrRegion "GB" `
    -City "London" `
    -StreetNumber "100" `
    -StreetName "Bishopsgate" `
    -PostalCode "EC2N 4AG" `
    -ValidateAddress

Passing the -ValidateAddress parameter instructs Microsoft Teams to immediately submit the address to the authoritative geocoding and emergency routing service provider. If postal discrepancies exist (such as an incorrect postal code or misspelled street name), validation warnings highlight required adjustments.

Adding Detailed Sub-Locations (Places) via CsOnlineLisLocation

Emergency dispatchers require floor-level precision to quickly reach callers inside multi-story facilities. Once the parent civic address is established, add specific indoor places using New-CsOnlineLisLocation:

# Add a specific floor location within the validated civic address
New-CsOnlineLisLocation -CivicAddressId $newAddress.CivicAddressId `
    -Description "4th Floor - Engineering Hub" `
    -Location "Floor 4"

# Add a secondary sub-location for reception
New-CsOnlineLisLocation -CivicAddressId $newAddress.CivicAddressId `
    -Description "Ground Floor - Main Reception" `
    -Location "Ground Floor"

These sub-locations generate unique LocationId GUIDs that can be bound directly to specific subnet ranges.

Updating Existing Civic Addresses

If building descriptors change or if address corrections are necessary, modify existing entries using Set-CsOnlineLisCivicAddress:

# Update the description of an existing civic address
Set-CsOnlineLisCivicAddress -CivicAddressId $newAddress.CivicAddressId `
    -Description "London HQ - East Tower"

Linking Validated Addresses to Corporate Network Subnets

To enable dynamic location detection when employees move between desks or conference rooms, map the validated CivicAddressId and LocationId to an enterprise IP subnet:

# Map an IP subnet to the emergency civic address and floor location
Set-CsTenantNetworkSubnet -SubnetID "192.168.140.0" `
    -MaskBits 24 `
    -NetworkSiteID "London-HQ" `
    -LocationID $newAddress.CivicAddressId

When an employee connected to 192.168.140.0/24 dials 999 or 911, the Teams client automatically attaches the validated Bishopsgate address and 4th Floor designation to the SIP emergency invite.

Removing Obsolete Civic Addresses

If a lease expires or a corporate site is permanently closed, dismantle the civic address using Remove-CsOnlineLisCivicAddress:

# Safely remove an obsolete civic address
Remove-CsOnlineLisCivicAddress -CivicAddressId $newAddress.CivicAddressId

Note: Microsoft Teams blocks the deletion of any civic address that currently has child locations, active phone numbers, or network subnets assigned to it. Unlink all dependent objects before executing removal.

Proactively maintaining validated emergency civic addresses in Microsoft Teams Phone ensures strict regulatory compliance, streamlines public safety dispatch, and safeguards employee welfare across enterprise facilities.