One Year Later: The NET 911 Act of 2008

• NCJ Number: 228674
• Journal: Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 36 Issue: 7 Dated: July 2009 Pages: 70,72,75
• Author(s): Betty Hall
• Date Published: July 2009
• Length: 5 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article examines the rationale, provisions, implementation, and impact of the Federal NET 911 Act of 2008 (New and Emerging Technologies 911 Improvement Act of 2008).

Abstract

The growing market penetration of both mobile telephones and Voice over Internet Protocol (VolP) telephony has exposed the communications limitations of the current 911 infrastructure. The 911 system, based on decades-old technology, cannot currently handle the text, data, images, and video that are increasingly common in personal communications. Unlike landline 911 calls, not all wireless 911 calls are delivered to dispatchers with automatic number information (ANI) and automatic location information (ALI), information that is needed in identifying the telephone number and geographic location of the caller. The rationale for the NET 911 Act is to achieve an upgrade in the country's public safety answering points (PSAP) in order to accommodate the changes and expansions in communications technology being adopted by the American public. Successful upgrades in E911 service implementation require the cooperation of multiple entities: wireless carriers, wireline telephone companies (also known as local exchange carriers), VolP providers, and PSAPs. When a 911 call is made from a wireless phone, the wireless carrier must be able to determine the location of the caller, deliver that information to the database provider, and transmit that location information to the PSAP; the PSAP must be capable of receiving such information. In order to receive ANI and ALI, PSAPs must upgrade their operations centers and make appropriate trunking arrangements in order to enable wireless E911 data to pass from the wireless carrier to the PSAP. This article identifies some of the challenges of implementing the various requirements of the NET 911, with a focus on what PSAPs must do to meet the challenges framed by the provisions of NET 911.