[Federal Register: October 23, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 206)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 63078-63080]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr23oc08-10]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
47 CFR Part 64
[CG Docket No. 03-123 and WC Docket No. 05-196; FCC 08-210]
Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services
for Individuals With Hearing and Speech Disabilities; E911 Requirements
for IP-Enabled Service Providers
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Final rule; petition for waiver.
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SUMMARY: In this document, the Commission grants a petition for limited
waiver filed by Sorenson Communications, Inc. (Sorenson). The waiver
allows Sorenson, and all other Video Relay Service (VRS) providers,
prior to the implementation of new emergency call handling rules, to
deliver to the appropriate emergency response authorities, at the
outset of the outbound leg of an emergency VRS call, the caller's North
American Numbering Plan (NANP) callback number, when known to the
provider, rather than the callback number of the Communications
Assistant (CA). The Commission also reiterates its requirement that VRS
providers implement a system to ensure that all incoming emergency
calls (including callbacks from emergency personnel) are answered by
the provider before non-emergency calls.
DATES: Effective September 19, 2008, the limited waiver shall expire as
of December 31, 2008.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gregory Hlibok, Consumer and
Governmental Affairs Bureau, Disability Rights Office at (800) 311-4381
(voice) or e-mail at Gregory.Hlibok@fcc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's
Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for
Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities; E911 Requirements for
IP-Enabled Service Providers, CG Docket No. 03-123 and WC Docket No.
05-196, Order, document FCC 08-210, adopted September 15, 2008, and
released September 19, 2008, granting a petition filed by Sorenson for
limited waiver of interim 47 CFR 64.605(c), which was adopted by the
Commission in Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech
Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities; E911
Requirements for IP-Enabled Service Providers, CG Docket No. 03-123 and
WC Docket No. 05-196, Report and Order, document FCC 08-78 (Interim
Emergency Call Handling Order), published at 73 FR 21252, April 21,
2008. The full text of document FCC 08-210 will be available for public
inspection and copying during regular business hours at the FCC
Reference Information Center, Portals II, 445 12th Street, SW., Room
CY-A257, Washington, DC 20554. Document FCC 08-210 and copies of
subsequently filed documents in this matter also may be purchased from
the Commission's duplicating contractor at Portals II, 445 12th Street,
SW., Room CY-B402, Washington, DC 20554. Customers may contact the
Commission's duplicating contractor at its Web site, http://
www.bcpiweb.com, or by calling 1-800-378-3160. Document FCC 08-210 also
can be downloaded in Word or Portable Document Format (PDF) at: http://
www.fcc.gov/cgb/dro/trs.html.
To request materials in accessible formats for people with
disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format),
send an e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer and Governmental
Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice) or (202) 418-0432 (TTY).
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 Analysis
Document FCC 08-210 does not contain new or modified information
collection requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,
Public Law 104-13. In addition, therefore, it does not contain any new
or modified information collection burden ``for small business concerns
[[Page 63079]]
with fewer than 25 employees,'' pursuant to the Small Business
Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, Public Law 107-198, see 44 U.S.C.
3506(c)(4).
Synopsis
1. In the Interim Emergency Call Handling Order, the Commission
addressed the emergency call handling obligations of Internet-based
Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) providers. Pending adoption by
the Commission of a longer term emergency call handling solution, the
Commission adopted interim requirements for Internet-based TRS
providers to ensure access to emergency services for consumers of
Internet-based relay services. Among these interim requirements is 47
CFR 64.605(c), which requires Internet-based TRS providers, at the
outset of the outbound leg of an emergency TRS call, to deliver to
emergency response authorities the callback number of the TRS
provider's CA, thereby enabling emergency response personnel to re-
establish contact with the CA in the event the call is disconnected.
Pursuant to the subsequent Telecommunications Relay Services and
Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech
Disabilities; E911 Requirements for IP-Enabled Service Providers, CG
Docket No. 03-123 and WC Docket No. 05-196, Report and Order and
Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, document FCC 08-151 (Internet-
based TRS Numbering Order), published at 73 FR 41286, July 18, 2008, as
of December 31, 2008, this requirement will no longer apply and will be
superseded by the new emergency call handling rules adopted in that
order.
2. On July 11, 2008, Sorenson filed a petition for limited waiver
of interim 47 CFR 64.605(c) seeking authority so that prior to December
31, 2008, when the caller's NANP callback number is known, Sorenson may
deliver it to the appropriate emergency response authorities at the
outset of the outbound leg of an emergency VRS call, instead of
providing the CA's callback number. Because the Commission finds this
to be a more efficient method of ensuring that emergency response
personnel can re-establish contact with an emergency caller if the call
has been disconnected, and because this approach more closely
approximates the callback information that the Commission will require
under its final emergency call handling rules for Internet-based forms
of TRS, the Commission grants the limited waiver of interim 47 CFR
64.605(c) that is requested by Sorenson, and applies it to all VRS
providers. The Commission also reiterates its requirement that VRS
providers implement a system to ensure that all incoming emergency
calls (including callbacks from emergency personnel) are answered by
the provider before non-emergency calls.
3. Background. The measures adopted in the Interim Emergency Call
Handling Order were designed to ensure that persons using Internet-
based forms of TRS can promptly access emergency services, until such
time that Internet-based TRS providers can immediately and
automatically place the outbound leg of an emergency call to an
appropriate public safety answering point (PSAP), designated statewide
default answering point, or appropriate local emergency authority
(collectively EAs). The Commission required Internet-based TRS
providers, at the outset of the outbound leg of an emergency call, to
deliver to emergency response authorities, at a minimum, the name of
the relay user and location of the emergency, as well as the name of
the relay provider, the CA's callback number, and the CA's
identification number, thereby enabling the emergency response
authority to re-establish contact with the CA if the call is
disconnected. One key provision of the Internet-based TRS Numbering
Order, however, is to have VRS and IP Relay providers transmit the
Automatic Number Identification (ANI) of the caller (i.e., the callback
number of the calling party) to the emergency response personnel rather
than having Internet-based TRS providers transmit to emergency response
personnel the callback number of the CA as required under the current
interim rules.
4. In its waiver petition, Sorenson asserts that providing to
emergency authorities the ten-digit NANP number of an emergency VRS
caller represents a more efficient method of re-establishing contact
with that caller if the initial call becomes disconnected, by enabling
emergency response personnel to re-establish relayed communications
directly with the caller by dialing the user's toll-free number rather
than going through the intermediate step of calling back the same CA.
Sorenson contends this procedure would serve the public interest by
facilitating the more rapid callback in this situation, and by
``effectively implement[ing],'' ahead of the December 31st deadline,
the requirement set forth in the Internet-based TRS Numbering Order
that VRS and IP Relay providers transmit the caller's ANI, rather than
the CA's callback number, at the outset of the outbound leg of an
emergency VRS call.
5. Discussion. The Commission finds good cause has been
demonstrated to grant Sorenson's request for a limited waiver of
interim 47 CFR 64.605(c), as well as to extend the waiver to similarly
situated VRS providers. First, as Sorenson correctly notes, the
Commission's goal in adopting interim 47 CFR 64.605(c) was to ensure
that emergency response personnel have a means of re-establishing
contact with an Internet-based relay user whose emergency call has been
disconnected. Although it was logical for the Commission in its Interim
Emergency Call Handling Order to require providers to deliver the
callback number of the CA, rather than of the user (since many VRS and
IP Relay users do not yet have unique ten-digit NANP numbers and
therefore cannot be reached directly by dialing a ten-digit number),
where a relay user does have a unique ten-digit NANP number, such as
the toll-free NANP numbers provided to Sorenson users, the Commission
finds no reason why this number should not be provided to emergency
response authorities at the outset of the outbound leg of an emergency
call. Indeed, to the extent that a callback via a user's ten-digit NANP
number is given priority call handling and does not necessitate re-
establishing contact with the specific CA who handled the original
emergency call (who himself may be experiencing technical or other
difficulties), the Commission agrees that the approach described by
Sorenson represents a more efficient method of re-establishing contact
with the emergency caller. Therefore, where an emergency caller can be
reached directly via a ten-digit NANP callback number, the Commission
finds that it is in the public interest to permit VRS providers to
provide this number to emergency response personnel. Second, as
Sorenson also notes, where an emergency VRS caller can be reached
directly via a unique, ten-digit NANP number, providing this callback
number to emergency response personnel more closely approximates the
callback approach adopted by the Commission in the recent Internet-
based TRS Numbering Order.
9. In sum, the Commission finds that the record supports granting
all VRS providers a waiver of interim 47 CFR 64.605(c)'s requirement
that the CA deliver to emergency response authorities, at the outset of
the call, the CA's callback number, to the extent that the VRS CA can
deliver, instead, the VRS caller's unique ten-digit NANP callback
number. The Commission reiterates, however, its requirement that VRS
providers implement a system to ensure that all incoming emergency
[[Page 63080]]
calls (including callbacks from emergency personnel) are answered by
the provider before non-emergency calls. The Commission also recognizes
that a callback from emergency personnel may be handled by a CA other
than the CA who handled the initial 911 call from the emergency caller.
The Commission expects providers will have in place a procedure by
which they will obtain from the first CA all information relevant to
the emergency, including any information that he or she obtained during
the course of the initial call but that was not conveyed, and that the
provider will transmit this information to the appropriate emergency
personnel. Finally, because the provision of interim 47 CFR 64.605(c)
waived herein terminates as of December 31, 2008, the waiver granted
herein to VRS providers shall also terminate on that date.
Congressional Review Act
The Commission will not send a copy of the Order pursuant to the
Congressional Review Act, see 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A), because the rule
subject to the limited waiver was previously adopted and subject to a
CRA submission at that juncture.
Ordering Clauses
Pursuant to section 225 of the Communications Act of 1934, as
amended, 47 U.S.C. 225, and 47 CFR 0.141, 0.361, and 1.3, the Order is
adopted.
The petition for limited waiver of interim 47 CFR 64.605(c), filed
by Sorenson on July 11, 2008, is granted to the extent described above
and is extended to all VRS providers.
The limited waiver of interim 47 CFR 64.605(c) shall expire as of
December 31, 2008.
Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene H. Dortch,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E8-25192 Filed 10-22-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P