Overview
During the audit period, the State 911 Department did not effectively assist municipalities with education programs on the statewide 911 emergency call system (including the silent call feature). Specifically, the department did not consistently work with Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) to ensure that an adequate educational campaign was routinely maintained and that municipalities consistently received educational materials to properly educate the public on the silent call feature. For example, of the 24 newsletters posted to the department’s website during our audit period, 3 had information that described the procedures telecommunicators should follow in answering calls that require providing silent call instructions to the caller. However, none of the 24 newsletters was directed to the general public. The department describes the silent call feature on its website, which is available to the public, and 22 municipalities and community organizations do the same, but we could not determine when this information was posted, and there were no analytics on how many times the pages had been viewed to determine the effectiveness of this public awareness activity. As a result, callers who cannot safely communicate, or who have disabilities that prevent them from speaking, might not be aware of the silent call feature.
Authoritative Guidance
Appendix A of Section 2 of Title 560 of the Code of Massachusetts Regulations, which establishes department standards for Enhanced 911, states,
The [State 911 Department] and the telephone company shall assist municipalities with the 9-1-1 public education program through the distribution of materials in the form of brochures, telephone stickers and children's educational materials. 9-1-1 PSAPs shall be responsible for working with [the department] and the telephone company to ensure that an adequate educational campaign is maintained on a routine basis.
Reason for Issue
The State 911 Department had not implemented policies, procedures, and monitoring controls that required it to consistently help municipalities properly educate the public about the statewide 911 emergency call system’s silent call feature through the distribution of materials.
Recommendation
The State 911 Department should implement policies, procedures, and monitoring controls to ensure that it consistently helps municipalities properly educate the public about the statewide 911 emergency call system’s silent call feature through the distribution of materials, including brochures, telephone stickers, and children's educational materials.
Auditee’s Response
The State 911 Department is proud of our public safety initiatives that have saved many lives and improved outcomes for those needing 911. Like any program, it is possible to improve and enhance the communication of all programs to raise awareness. This, we feel, is what we have been doing for quite some time to inform the public about the silent call procedure. We have already diligently initiated further communications to better inform the public of the highly successful silent call procedure available to them if they should need it when dialing 911 in Massachusetts.
Further, it is important for the public to know that every 911 telecommunicator in Massachusetts is thoroughly trained regarding the silent call procedure. It is a standardized policy for all telecommunicators to initiate a silent call procedure if they do not receive a verbal acknowledgment from a 911 caller. A person calling 911 does not need to ask for this to occur; a 911 telecommunicator will initiate this procedure. Other states have used our training materials for 911 telecommunicators and our processes have been a model and closely mimicked in areas outside of Massachusetts.
In closing, while we do not agree fully with the recommendation since we have policies and procedures already in place, the State 911 Department will enhance its communication effort and expand our outreach of the silent call feature consistent with the recommendation.
Auditor’s Reply
We do not dispute the fact that the State 911 Department provides training to every telecommunicator on how to handle different types of emergency calls and on the silent call feature, and we commend it for doing so. As noted above, our concern is that during our audit period, the department did not effectively help municipalities with education programs on the statewide 911 emergency call system, including the silent call feature. Although the department responds to some municipalities’ requests for educational materials, it does not have a comprehensive plan to ensure that all communities inform the public about the system, including the silent call feature. Further, the department does not collect data or perform any analysis to assess the effectiveness of the public education campaign.
We acknowledge that the State 911 Department did have policies and procedures regarding telecommunicators’ use of the silent call feature. However, as stated in the report, the department had not implemented policies, procedures, and monitoring controls that required it to consistently help municipalities properly educate the public about the silent call feature through the distribution of materials.
Based on its response, the State 911 Department will be taking measures to address this problem. We urge the department to fully implement all our recommendations on this issue.
| Date published: | June 30, 2021 |
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