The FCC shouldn’t allow relay providers to forward 911 calls to o...

Internet relay, the National Emergency Number Association said the FCC should require relay providers to forward 911 calls to other providers if they don’t answer in a set period. A forwarding requirement would “absolve” understaffed providers “of any responsibility for complying with the rules, and could result in a ‘round robin’ where 911 calls are shuttled multiple times to different providers before being processed,” Sorenson said. Forwarding “goes beyond functional equivalency” required by the Americans with Disabilities Act, GoAmerica said. AT&T opposed a forwarding obligation, too, but for technical reasons. To implement the process, providers “would need to develop a system to exchange information in real-time that will assess the CA [communications assistant] availability of each provider,” the carrier said. “While such a system may be technically feasible, it would be difficult to develop, test, and implement the system” by Dec. 31, the date by which providers must implement the 10-digit numbering system, it said. Meanwhile, AT&T opposed adoption of slamming rules for Internet relay. The rules, endorsed only in initial comments, would protect relay users from unauthorized default provider changes. The FCC didn’t adopt slamming rules on voice carriers until it developed a “substantial record of complaints from consumers,” AT&T said. The FCC hasn’t done the same for Internet relay, it said. “Extending all of the slamming rules to Internet-based TRS providers would be a solution without a problem to resolve.”