PLEASE NOTE: Legislative Information cannot perform research, provide legal advice, or interpret Maine law. For legal assistance, please contact a qualified attorney.
An Act To Ensure Direct Dialing of 911 from Multiline Telephone Systems
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 25 MRSA §2934, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 478, §1, is amended to read:
 
1. Requirements.   The bureau may by rule establish requirements for locating emergency calls, and initiating emergency responses to such calls, made from within multiline telephone systems, including network-based or premises-based systems and voice over Internet protocol systems, whether owned or leased by a public or private entity, such as private branch exchanges or Centrex systems. Rules adopted pursuant to this section:
 
A.  May not require any local unit of government to expand or modify its activities so as to necessitate additional expenditures from local revenues;
 
B.  Apply only to multiline telephone systems installed, introduced, established or replaced after the effective date of the rules;
 
C.  Must provide for appropriate standards, exemptions and waivers that balance the benefits of improved methods of locating emergency calls, and initiating emergency responses to such calls, made from within multiline telephone systems and the cost of achieving those improvements. The rules must allow, in appropriate circumstances, for methods that do not utilize automatic location identification and automatic number identification standards used in processing enhanced 9-1-1 calls; and
 
D.  May establish appropriate technical, procedural or any other standards relating to multiline telephone systems, telecommunications carrier interconnectivity, databases, dialing instructions, signaling or other matters necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of this section.
Sec. 2.  25 MRSA §2934-A  is enacted to read:
§ 2934-A. Emergency calling from multiline telephone systems
 
1.  Direct dialing of 911.     A public or private entity that installs or operates a multiline telephone system shall ensure that the system is connected to the public switched telephone network in such a way that when an individual using the system dials 911, the call connects to the public safety answering point without requiring the user to first dial any other number or set of numbers. This subsection does not apply to any local unit of government if complying would necessitate additional expenditures from local revenues.
 
2.  Compliance period.     A public or private entity shall comply with subsection 1 within one year after the effective date of this section or, if the public or private entity does not have a multiline telephone system capable of complying with subsection 1, by the date that the multiline telephone system is next upgraded to a system capable of complying with subsection 1.
 
SUMMARY
This bill requires that any public or private entity that installs or operates a multiline telephone system ensures that the system is connected to the public switched telephone network in such a way that an individual dialing 911 is connected to the public safety answering point without requiring the individual to first dial any other number or set of numbers.