In an effort to improve consumer awareness of the public safety risk for users of Multi-Line Telephone Systems (MLTS), the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) recently adopted new notice and tariff requirements for California local exchange carriers (LECs). Specifically, in Decision 13-07-019, the CPUC imposes a deadline of November 14, 2013, for all California LECs to:
(1) distribute to existing MLTS customers the customer advisory brochure (PBX 9-1-1 Advisory) attached to the Decision as Appendix A, and any applicable updates, or a brochure with the same essential information;
(2) begin distributing the PBX 9-1-1 Advisory brochure and any applicable updates, or a brochure with the same essential information, to their current and prospective customers when those customers initiate MLTS services and/or request information on MLTS Enhanced 9-1-1; and
(3) place the MLTS logo on their webpage to be used as the icon that directly links to the PBX Advisory Brochure on the CPUC’s website.
In addition, the CPUC required that by November 14, LECs with existing local access or 9-1-1 tariffs must:
(1) include in their local access tariff language informing customers of the option to provision more accurate 9-1-1 caller MLTS phone station information that can be sent to Public Safety Answering Points and that it is the customer’s responsibility to provide and maintain accurate and complete phone station location information in the 9-1-1 database; and
(2) review, revise and update their 9-1-1 tariffs such that their current and prospective MLTS customers are fully informed of options for provisioning accurate caller location information.
The CPUC explained that educating MLTS customers about the need to program precise MLTS phone station location information may reduce instances of erroneous deployments of emergency resources and improve the ability of emergency personnel to respond more quickly and efficiently to emergency situations.
The order and its appendices can be found at the following links:
https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Published/G000/M072/K133/72133561.PDF
https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Published/G000/M072/K301/72301174.pdf
Clients who would like assistance in meeting the new MLTS customer education requirements or revising their 9-1-1 tariffs, should contact Michael Donahue at mpd@commlawgroup.com.
