Twenty one states currently have E911 legislation enacted or pending, which requires organizations over a certain size or purchasing a new PBX (News - Alert) to implement an E911 hosted solution for the safety of their employees, students, and visitors. Many of these state legislations implement their legislation using the proposed NENA legislation as a model. One of the leading states in E911 legislation and progressing in its implementation of next-generation E911 solutions is California with its 37 million plus population, 900,000 business entities, and extensive natural disasters.

California introduced in February 2007, Assembly Bill No. 942 requires every telephone exchange service, competitive local exchange carrier, multi-telephone system (MLTS), private branch exchange system, key set system, Centrex, or similar system to provide enhanced “911” (E911) service with automatic routing, automatic number identification, and automatic location information or identification.

Then on July 26-27, 2010, the Communications Division (CD) held a public workshop on provisioning E911 caller location information for phones served by multi-line telephone systems (MLTS), such as a PBX. The CD characterized the workshop as primarily informational in nature, and asked stakeholders to address the following subject areas:

1. Identify the public safety need for accurate caller location information on 9-1-1 calls
2. Describe how public utilities and other service providers work with business customers in implementing best practices for provisioning caller location information needed for timely emergency response
3. Identify the feasibility and cost to businesses and other property owners of provisioning caller location information needed by Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) and field responders

Feeling the workshop to be successful, and working towards a goal to improve the public’s access to E911 where they work, shop, relax, vacation, attend school, receive government services and medical care, as well as where many of the disable and elderly citizens live, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) plans to hold another workshop in 2011. Along with scheduling further E911 legislation and awareness workshops, the CPUC has implemented public safety education as part of their initiative, producing customer collateral to hand out.

As Mark Fletcher, E911 product manager at Avaya (News - Alert), said in a recent podcast, “Public education about E911 is one of the most effective remedies.” California is looking to remedy all E911 ignorance, pushing for the statewide inquiry and implementation of E911 solutions. Fletcher commends the CPUC for their effort, as public safety education and compliance penalty are frequently brought up in other state initiatives, but never acted on.