https://urgentcomm.com/wp-content/themes/ucm_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Multimedia
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
    • Product Guides
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • Commentary
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • All Things IWCE
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • IWCE
    • Conference
    • Special Events
    • Exhibitor Listings
    • Premier Partners
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Register for IWCE
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
    • Cookie Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • Mission Critical Technologies
    • TU-Auto
  • In the field
    • Back
    • In the field
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Internet of Things
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Call Center/Command
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Network Tech
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Operations
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Regulations
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • Organizations
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
Urgent Communications
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Omdia Crit Comms Circle Podcast
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
    • Product Guides
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • All Things IWCE
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
    • UC eZines
    • Sponsored content
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • Conference
    • Why Attend
    • Exhibitor Listing
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Join the Event Mailing List
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • TU-Auto
  • newsletter
  • In the field
    • Back
    • Internet of Things
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Cybersecurity
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
acc.com

News


House subcommittee voices support for Kari’s Law bill that seeks direct dialing for 911 nationwide

  • Written by Donny Jackson
  • 18th April 2016
Proposed legislation that would mandate direct dialing for 911 calls receives verbal support from lawmakers during a hearing before the U.S. House of Representatives’ Communications and Technology Subcommittee.

What is in this article?

  • House subcommittee voices support for Kari’s Law bill that seeks direct dialing for 911 nationwide
  • House subcommittee voices support for Kari’s Law bill that seeks direct dialing for 911 nationwide

House subcommittee voices support for Kari’s Law bill that seeks direct dialing for 911 nationwide

Proposed legislation that would mandate direct dialing for 911 calls received verbal support from lawmakers last week during a hearing before the U.S. House of Representatives’ Communications and Technology Subcommittee.

The bill, Kari’s Law Act of 2015, would amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require multi-line telephone systems (MLTS) to allow direct dialing for 911, as opposed to a requirement to dial a prefix—often the number “9” but not always—to get an outside line that will allow connection to a public-safety answering point (PSAP).

“I think we all agree that when you dial 911 from a hotel, an office, anywhere, that you shouldn’t have to have some kind of prefix,” Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) said during the hearing, which was webcast. “I never taught my children any prefix. It was just, ‘What did Mommy tell you? Tell me the number again; say the number again,’ from their earliest consciousness.”

The law has tragic origins. On Dec. 1, 2013, Kari Hunt’s estranged husband viciously stabbed her to death in a Marshall, Texas, hotel-room bathroom with their children present. As many children are taught to do, Kari’s oldest daughter tried calling 911 four times during the murder. Because she didn’t know that the hotel required a dialed prefix, the phone went to static each time.

“Had the 911 call gone through, the response time would have been much less than the five minutes [Kari’s husband] spent murdering her,” Kari Hunt’s father and Kari’s Law progenitor Hank Hunt wrote in a written testimony for the subcommittee hearing. “Would that have saved her? He stabbed her a total of 29 times in five minutes, if it had been three minutes…”

Since that time, Hunt has advocated for legislation that would eliminate any prefixes or postfixes for 911 calls made on multiline telephone systems (MLTS). According to Hunt, Kari’s Law has been passed in Suffolk County, N.Y., Illinois, Maryland, Texas and Tennessee. Similar legislation is being consider in Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

The bill, as introduced by Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) in December, also contains provisions for prohibiting redirections/interceptions of 911 calls to public-safety answering points (PSAPs), as well as requirement to notify a person or central location at the facility housing the MLTS phone when a 911 call is made on it.

Steve Souder, director of the Fairfax County, Va., Department of Public Safety Communications echoed Hunt’s view that such a law was needed, citing a statistic that that 911 is called 240 million times per year.

“This is a situation that exists across the country, where multiple line telephone systems are employed, including in hotels, colleges, corporate campuses and indeed, government buildings,” Souder said during the hearing. “I commend and appreciate Hank Hunt’s efforts in this regard.”

1 | 2 |
House subcommittee voices support for Kari’s Law bill that seeks direct dialing for 911 nationwide
Tags: Legislation News Policy News

Leave a comment Cancel reply

To leave a comment login with your Urgent Comms account:

Log in with your Urgent Comms account

Or alternatively provide your name, email address below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • House subcommittee voices support for Kari’s Law bill that seeks direct dialing for 911 nationwide
  • House subcommittee voices support for Kari’s Law bill that seeks direct dialing for 911 nationwide
  • House subcommittee voices support for Kari’s Law bill that seeks direct dialing for 911 nationwide
  • House subcommittee voices support for Kari’s Law bill that seeks direct dialing for 911 nationwide

Commentary


How 5G is making cities safer, smarter, and more efficient

26th January 2023

3GPP moves Release 18 freeze date to March 2024

18th January 2023

Do smart cities make safer cities?

  • 1
6th January 2023
view all

Events


UC Ezines


IWCE 2019 Wrap Up

13th May 2019
view all

Twitter


UrgentComm

FAA approves beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) flights in North Dakota dlvr.it/ShgxHW

30th January 2023
UrgentComm

AT&T boasts of core ‘white box’ success in 5G, fiber push dlvr.it/Shgb4w

30th January 2023
UrgentComm

Spending American Rescue Plan Act funds: A primer for municipalities dlvr.it/ShgZ52

30th January 2023
UrgentComm

AT&T wireless growth keyed by FirstNet—now provides 24,000 agencies with 4.4 million connections dlvr.it/ShY5qH

27th January 2023
UrgentComm

Report: Remote work causing offices to empty, but walkable cities still in high demand dlvr.it/ShXM7Z

27th January 2023
UrgentComm

AT&T FirstNet unleashes robotic dogs for emergency services dlvr.it/ShW7p8

27th January 2023
UrgentComm

Federal agencies infested by cyberattackers via legit remote-management systems dlvr.it/ShVhn3

26th January 2023
UrgentComm

How 5G is making cities safer, smarter, and more efficient dlvr.it/ShVS1h

26th January 2023

Newsletter

Sign up for UrgentComm’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about Communications and Technology.

Expert Commentary

Learn from experts about the latest technology in automation, machine-learning, big data and cybersecurity.

Business Media

Find the latest videos and media from the market leaders.

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital and print audiences? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • American City & County
  • IWCE
  • Light Reading
  • IOT World Today
  • Mission Critical Technologies
  • TU-Auto

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Events
  • Careers

FOLLOW Urgent Comms ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2023 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.