E911 Compliance Deadline – December 31, 2020

After an initial announcement several years ago and several subsequent delays, the Enhanced 911 (E911) requirements adopted by the Michigan Legisla­ture in the Emergency 911 Service Enabling Act, with some exceptions, take effect on December 31, 2020. The E911 requirements apply to any multi-line tele­phone system (MLTS), which is as system comprised of com­mon control unit(s), telephone sets with unique telephone numbers, and control hardware and soft­ware. A school building will often use an MLTS to provide telephone service to multiple end-users. Under the E911 requirements, an MLTS operator must ensure that communications devices that are part of the system (e.g., phones) transmit specific location information to 911 operators when an emergency call is placed.

A school operating an MLTS should check with its local 911 operator to ensure that its system complies with the Act or whether the E911 requirements are applicable to the school at this time. The Act contains a number of fact-specific exceptions that may delay implementation or exempt an entity from complying with the E911 requirements.

An entity in violation of the E911 requirements after December 31, 2020 may be subject to fines, and must provide the Michigan Public Service Commission and the Emergency 911 Service Committee information on its failure to meet the deadline and, within 60 days after the violation, provide a plan to remedy the failure within six months.