Report From The State

At the CALNENA Chapter meeting in Walnut Creek on November 6, Leah Senitte,Manager for the California 9-1-1 Program and First Vice President of theNENA Executive Board, updated the membership on the following items:

Legislation:

AB1198 (Hertzberg) was signed by Governor Wilson. It provides funding for the San Jose’ 3-1-1 trial, and sets the stage for additional trial’s in LA and Santa Barbara, as well as a public education campaign for the existing San Diego 7-digit non-emergency telephone number.

Master Service Agreements:

The State 9-1-1 Program will be negotiating with 9-1-1 service providers for better prices, terms, etc., for intelligent workstations and other customer premise equipment. The master service agreements will improve the State 9-1-1 Program budgeting and accounting.

Rumor Control:

The State 9-1-1 Program is NOT running out of money!. They had gone back to the general accounting office to increase funding to implement FCC 94-102 this fiscal year. The positions were approved for the 1998-99 budget year. Recruiting for the new positions will be conducted in the Springtime. In the meantime, the program will have to absorb current fiscal year costs of implementation in the current budget.

9-1-1 Operations Manual:

A new user friendly operations manual is in circulation. If you need one, contact the 9-1-1 Analyst assigned to your organization. The format of the manual will make updates easier.

Foreign Language Translation:

After conducting a comprehensive needs assessment and request for proposal, the State 9-1-1 Program will be issuing an intent to award announcement on Friday, November 14, 1997. The successful contractor will be providing translation for 77 foreign languages, instead of the current 3. The new contract will take effect on February 1, 1998. There was a request for the State 9-1-1 Program to consider funding translation from the wireless 7-digit lines answered by the CHP and local PSAP’s.

TDD/TTY Translation:

The United States Department of Justice is conducting audits of 9-1-1 PSAP compliance with the consent decree effecting TDD/TTY translation services. At least three agencies in Northern California have received letters from the US DOJ announcing their intent to audit. Every 9-1-1 PSAP is required to provide TDD/TTY translation at each 9-1-1 answering position, and there must be documentation of minimum initial and on-going training.