Overview
The State 911 Department is organized under Section 18B of Chapter 6A of the Massachusetts General Laws and operates under the direction and control of the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS). Section 18B also establishes within EOPSS a State 911 Commission to provide the department with additional guidance “in all matters regarding enhanced 911 service in the commonwealth,” including budgeting, contracting, and approval of grant guidelines. In addition, the statute provides for a policy advisory committee to help the department meet its responsibilities by advising the department and the commission on matters related to enhanced 911 service. During our audit period, the department was administrated by an executive director and had 49 staff members, including a deputy executive director.
The purposes of the State 911 Department are to coordinate the implementation and administration of enhanced 911 services throughout the Commonwealth and to develop and administer grant programs to assist the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) call centers in Massachusetts, which receive 911 calls. Since its inception, the State 911 Department has provided enhanced 911 service to all PSAPs for all 351 municipalities. There were a total of 232 PSAPs at the end of 2018. The statewide 911 emergency call system is available to anyone making a call in the Commonwealth. As of July 1, 2019, according to the United States Census Bureau, the Commonwealth’s population was 6,892,503.
There were 3,553,728 calls to 911 in the state in 2018, before the start of the Text to 911 option in the statewide 911 emergency call system. After that option was implemented in the beginning of January 2019, there were 3,475,240 calls to 911 in 2019; 6,055 of them, representing less than 1% of total annual contacts, were text contacts.
The State 911 Department’s annual budget is funded by the Enhanced 911 Fund, which was established in Massachusetts by Chapter 223 of the Acts of 2008. The Enhanced 911 Fund is supported by a surcharge assessed on subscribers to wireline and wireless services, including prepaid mobile phones and voice over Internet protocol phones.2 Surcharge revenue is expended for department programs and administration, including but not limited to salaries, Enhanced 911 training programs, Enhanced 911 public education programs, and PSAP equipment and maintenance.
Next Gen 911 Emergency Call System, Including Texting
In 2013, the State 911 Department began its campaign to provide an updated statewide 911 emergency call system, called Next Gen 911, for the entire Commonwealth. At that time, the system in place used analog services and was becoming obsolete, and other states were discontinuing analog systems. With guidance from the federal government, the State 911 Department commenced a project to convert the analog system to a digital system by surveying all state emergency call centers to prepare for the change of equipment and training professional 911 operators, who are called telecommunicators in Massachusetts. The analog system was used until the newly developed digital system went live in December 2017.
Next Gen 911 is a system that callers can use from cellphones, smartphones, and landlines. In December 2018, the State 911 Department successfully implemented the system’s texting feature to allow the public to communicate with call centers using text if they did not want, or were unable, to relay their emergencies verbally. This feature allows people to use the statewide 911 emergency call system more easily than they could with a teletypewriter, which is a hardwired landline device.
Silent Call Feature
The silent call feature was originally established in 1998 to communicate with individuals who could not speak because they were deaf or hard of hearing or for other reasons (for example, because they were experiencing a medical emergency or it would be unsafe for them to speak). The telecommunicator asks the caller to press one for police assistance, two for fire assistance, or three for an ambulance. A telecommunicator can ask yes-or-no questions, and the caller can respond by pressing four for yes and five for no. Landline calls indicate addresses automatically; cellphones indicate the nearest cell tower. The telecommunicator asks callers questions that can direct emergency responders to their locations without saying words. The department is required to help municipalities maintain ongoing public education programs to inform the public about the statewide 911 emergency call system, including the silent call feature.
Education for Telecommunicators
The 911.gov website states,
911 professionals, also referred to as “dispatchers” or “call takers,” are often the first trained point of contact in an emergency. They begin the important work of obtaining essential information, remaining calm, calming others, and sending the appropriate responders to the right location. They may also provide instructions to the 911 caller, which in many cases is essential to stabilizing or saving a life.
Throughout Massachusetts, PSAPs are administered primarily by state and municipal police departments, fire departments, and private emergency medical service companies. The State 911 Department is charged with training and certifying telecommunicators as new hires by municipal and state agencies. Newly hired telecommunicators must complete two days of 911 equipment and basic telecommunicator training. They must also complete 40 hours of basic telecommunicator training provided by the State 911 Department or third-party training that the department has approved. Once training is completed, the person is considered a certified Enhanced 911 telecommunicator.
The department is also charged with providing annual training and recertification for existing telecommunicators. To retain their certification and continue working, telecommunicators must complete 16 hours of State 911 Department–approved continuing education annually.
| Date published: | June 30, 2021 |
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