E911 Featured Article

A Push afoot in California Assembly for Emergency Communications Bill

By Tim Gray, TMCnet Web Editor

There has been a renewed push to pass new legislation through the California Assembly as part of a larger Emergency Communications bill requiring enterprises in the state to employ some form of E911 services.

 

Although the bill is currently considered inactive, after falling short earlier this year, ongoing federal regulations and guidelines are renewing statewide interest in securing a viable E911 program before it is imposed from the outside.

 

The idea behind these enhanced 911 systems is to allow safety service personnel to track mobile device users’ locations through geographical mapping and correctly route these emergency calls to the appropriate public safety answering point (PSAP) and then enable emergency services to locate the geographic position of the caller.

 

This year’s California proposal would have required that "every telephone exchange service, competitive local exchange carrier, multitelephone system, private branch exchange system, key set system, Centrex, or similar system, to provide enhanced 911 service with automatic routing, automatic number identification, and automatic location information or identification."

 

“The California Assembly should be applauded for trying to address a obvious problem” said Nick Maier, senior vice president of RedSky (News - Alert) Technologies, Inc. “The fact is that millions of Americans go to work every day in high rises, campus buildings and other complex environments and, if they dial 911, no one knows where they are. This bill will require that employers and telephony service providers have a location established for every telephone.”

 

However, according to California legislative rules, Bills that do not pass their house of origin in the first year of a legislative session are returned to the Chief Clerk of the State Assembly and must be re-introduced the following session. As a new Assembly prepares so be sworn in January, the idea is likely to soon pick up steam once again.

 

The California legislature joins a growing number of States that have proposed legislation dealing with E911. Most recently the Massachusetts legislature passed an E911 bill which was signed by the Governor into law making Massachusetts the 14th State to pass E911 legislation.

Tim Gray is a Web Editor for TMCnet, covering news in the IP communications, call center and customer relationship management industries. To read more of Tim�s articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Tim Gray

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