E911 legislators, advocates, business owners, and hosted solutions providers, among others, have been busy keeping their eye on the West Coast and its advanced E911 legislation. California began its fast adoption of E911when it introduced in February 2007, Assembly Bill No. 942, requiring 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 (News - Alert). 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.

Mark Fletcher, E911 product manager at Avaya (News - Alert), was impressed that California implemented a remedy to all E911 ignorance, pushing for the statewide inquiry and implementation of E911 solutions. Fletcher commended the CPUC for their effort, as public safety education and compliance penalty are frequently brought up in other state initiatives, but never acted on.

Fletcher although impressed by California’s public safety education, was astounded by Michigan’s recent legislation. He recently covered in a blog and podcast, “Did you hear that Michigan is pushing their legislative agenda pretty hard?” According to Fletcher they are shooting for Dec. 31 of this year and have also included penalties of up to $5,000 for non-compliance. “The folks up in Michigan aren’t messing around; they are getting right down to it and they are getting tough.”

Michigan E911 legislation has ordered that a public hearing regarding proposed rules for multiline telephone systems shall be held on April 19, in the offices of the Commission. The highlights of the legislation, according to Fletcher, or rather, the highlights stunning the E911 industry are:

• 7,000 sq. ft. ERL
• No local termination if you are not a primary PSAP
• Going into effect in December of 2011
• Up to $5,000 penalty for non-compliance

Fletcher emphasized that definitions are the key to such legislation. So if you want to understand the newest E911 legislation taking effect, below are a few key definitions to help you understand what they are talking about and what’s applicable:

Alternative Methods of Notification – an internal system exists which will locate the communications device used to make a 911 call and initiate an emergency response

Multi-line telephone system – A system comprised of common control units, telephone sets with unique telephone numbers, and control hardware and software

Multi-line telephone system operator – This is who the law is going to apply to. This means a service user who owns leases or rents from a third party and operates an MLTS

Specific Location – a room or unit number or room name or equivilant unique designation of a portion of a structure of a building to which a 911 emergency response team may be dispatched and the caller quickly located that is not more than 7,000 sq ft. – really small ERLs

Twenty one states currently have E911 legislation enacted or pending, which requires organizations over a certain size or purchasing a new PBX to implement an E911 hosted solution for the safety of their employees, students, and visitors. Take a lesson from Michigan – it may come faster than you think, so be prepared.