Massachusetts § 14A - Enhanced 911 service

§ 14A. Enhanced 911 service

Section 14A. (a) In order to establish statewide enhanced 911 service, upon the written request of the state 911 department, established by section 18B of chapter 6A, hereinafter referred to as the department, each telephone company providing local exchange service in the commonwealth shall provide and maintain enhanced 911 service in compliance with a schedule established by the department after consultation with such phone company.

(b) Each municipality in the commonwealth shall be served by a primary or regional PSAP, that utilizes enhanced 911 network features in accordance with the implementation schedule established by the department under section 18D of chapter 6A.

(c) No provision of law shall be construed to prohibit or discourage the formation of multi-department, multi-jurisdictional or regional PSAPs, or regional emergency communication centers. Any PSAP may serve the jurisdiction of more than 1 public department or a segment of the jurisdiction of a municipality.

(d) A telephone company shall forward to any PSAP or any other answering point equipped for enhanced 911 service, the telephone number and street address of any telephone used to place a 911 call. Subscriber information provided in accordance with this section shall be used only for the purpose of responding to emergency calls or for use in any ensuing investigation or prosecution, including the investigation of false or intentionally misleading reports of incidents requiring emergency service. No telephone company, nor the agents of any telephone companies, shall be liable in any action to any person for the release of information as permitted in this section.

(e) As enhanced 911 service becomes available and where facilities are available, each telephone company and owner of a private coin telephone in the commonwealth shall convert each public coin or coinless telephone within areas served by such enhanced 911 service to dial tone first capability, to allow a caller to dial 911 without first inserting a coin or paying any other charge. Each provider of public coin or coinless telephone shall provide access to enhanced 911 service, and prominently display instructions on use of such system.