[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 206 (Thursday, October 23, 2008)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 63078-63080]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-25192]


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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 [email protected].

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 [email protected] 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