An Emergency Communications Safety Net: Integrating 911 and Other Services
Source: Congressional Research Service (via OpenCRS)

The present capability and future effectiveness of America’s network of emergency telecommunications services are among the issues under review by Congress and other entities. Emergency calls (911) on both wireline (landline) and wireless networks are considered by many to be part of the public safety network. As technologies that can support 911 improve, many are seeing the possibility of integrating 911 into a wider safety net of emergency communications and alerts. One of the intents of Congress in passing the Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999 (P.L. 106-81), and of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in implementing the act, is to make 911 technology universally available nationwide. A 2002 report, known as the Hatfield Report, recognized the need to upgrade 911 infrastructure, discussed the difficulties encountered, and recommended the creation of a 911 bureau at the Executive level. Congress addressed recommendations from the Hatfield Report with provisions passed in the ENHANCE 911 Act of 2004 (P.L. 108-494). This legislation created a federal program for 911 implementation and coordination and authorized funds for a matching grant program. The Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-53) authorized the immediate release of $43.5 million designated for 911 improvements by the Deficit Reduction Act. This amount will be recovered from spectrum auction proceeds slated for deposit, in 2008, into the Digital Transition and Public Safety Fund, created by the act. Title VI, Subtitle D, of the appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security (P.L. 109-295) included a requirement that the FCC submit a report to Congress on the capacity, nationwide, for rerouting 911 calls when call centers are disabled by disaster.

Both the House and Senate have passed bills focused on ensuring access to 911 call centers for users of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone service and improving the delivery of 911 services nationwide. S. 428 (Senator Bill Nelson) was approved by the Senate in February 2008. Similar solutions are in H.R. 3403 (Representative Gordon), passed by the House in November 2007. The bills will now go to conference for resolution of the differences in language. Legislation that may be considered in the 2nd Session of the 110th Congress includes two bills covering call centers: S. 211 (Senator Clinton) and H.R. 211 (Representative Eshoo). Both require improvements in the capacity of 211 help lines (information and referral services) operated by nonprofit call centers.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 30th, 2008 at 9:08 am and is filed under Congressional Research Service, Government and politics, National security, Telecommunications. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.