16 Tex. Admin. Code § 26.127 - Abbreviated Dialing Codes
(a) Code
assignments. The following abbreviated dialing codes may be used in Texas:
(1) 211--Community Information and Referral
Services;
(2) 311--Non-Emergency
Governmental Service;
(3) 411--
(A) Directory Assistance; and
(B) Directory Assistance Call
Completion;
(4)
511--Traffic and Transportation Information;
(5) 611--Repair Service;
(6) 711--Telecommunications Relay
Service;
(7) 811--One Call
Excavation Notification; and
(8)
911--Emergency Service.
(b) Use only as directed. A certificated
telecommunications utility (CTU) within the State of Texas may assign or use
N11 dialing codes only as directed by the commission.
(c) Limitations. The following limitations
apply to a CTU's use of N11 dialing codes for internal business and testing
purposes:
(1) use may not interfere with the
assignment of such numbers by the FCC and the North American Numbering Plan
(NANP); and
(2) use of an N11
dialing code must be discontinued on short notice if the number is reassigned
on a statewide or nationwide basis.
(d) 211 service.
(1) Application. This subsection applies to
the assignment, provision, and termination of 211 service.
(2) Definitions. The following words and
terms, when used in this subsection, have the following meanings unless the
context indicates otherwise:
(A) Alliance of
Information and Referral Systems (AIRS)--A professional organization whose
mission is to unite and serve the field and to advance the profession of
information and referral as a vital means of bringing people and services
together. AIRS has developed national quality standards and methods of
evaluating information and referral services.
(B) Area Information Center (AIC)--An entity
that serves as regional coordinator for health and human services information
for a specified geographical area or region.
(C) Community resource--A for profit or
nonprofit resource that provides health or human services in a designated
geographic area.
(D) Information
and referral service -- A service whose primary purpose is to maintain
information about human service resources in the community and to link people
who need assistance with appropriate service providers or to supply descriptive
information about the agencies or organizations which offer services.
(E) Selective routing--The feature provided
with 211 service by which 211 calls are automatically routed to the 211
answering point for serving the place from which the call originates.
(F) Texas Information and Referral Network
(Texas I & R Network)--A program of the Health and Human Services
Commission (HHSC) that is responsible for the development, coordination, and
implementation of the statewide information and referral network.
(G) 211 answering point--An AIC that:
(i) provides 24 hour, seven day a week
operations;
(ii) is assigned by
HHSC the responsibility to receive 211 calls;
(iii) serves the area or region designated by
HHSC; and
(iv) performs the roles
and responsibilities of an AIC.
(H) 211 service -- A telecommunications
service provided by a CTU to a designated area information center through which
the end user of a public phone system can access services providing free
information and referrals regarding community service organizations.
(3) Role and responsibilities of
the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC).
(A) To designate an AIC as a 211 provider for
a particular geographical area;
(B)
HHSC and the AICs educate the populace about the use of 211 service from its
inception through termination;
(C)
HHSC is responsible for dispute resolution should a conflict regarding the
selection of an AIC occur; and
(D)
HHSC may terminate an AIC's designation for good cause and is responsible for
ensuring prompt and efficient selection of a new AIC for continuation of
service.
(4) Use of the
211 system.
(A) 211 calls may not be
completed over the 311 or 911 networks or use the 311 or 911
databases.
(B) The 211 network must
not be used for commercial advertisements.
(5) Privacy policy. To preserve the privacy
of callers who wish to use the 211 service anonymously, an AIC which uses
Automatic Number Identification (ANI), Automatic Location Identification (ALI)
service or other equivalent non-blockable information-gathering features for
the provision of 211 service must establish an in-house procedure that is
consistent with the AIRS national standards and the standards set forth by HHSC
that allows access to the 211 service while honoring the caller's call and
line-blocking preferences, or caller anonymity.
(6) Fee. Neither an AIC nor a CTU may charge
end users a fee on a per-call or per-use basis for using the 211
system.
(e) 311 service.
(1) Scope and purpose. This subsection
applies to the assignment, provision, and termination of 311 service. Through
this subsection, the commission strives to strengthen the 911 system by
alleviating congestion on the 911 system through the establishment of a
framework for governmental entities to implement a 311 system for non-emergency
police and other governmental services.
(2) Definition. The term "governmental
entity" when used in this subsection means any county, municipality, emergency
communication district, regional planning commission, appraisal district, or
any other subdivision or district that provides, participates in the provision
of, or has authority to provide fire-fighting, law enforcement, ambulance,
medical, 911, or other emergency service as defined in Texas Health &
Safety Code §771.001, as may be subsequently amended.
(3) A CTU must have a commission-approved
application to provide 311 service.
(4) Requirements of application by CTU.
(A) Applications, tariffs, and notices filed
under this subsection must be written in plain language, must contain
sufficient detail to give customers, governmental entities, and other affected
parties adequate notice of the filing, and must conform to the requirements of
§
26.209 of this title (relating to
New and Experimental Services) or §
26.211 of this title (relating to
Rate-Setting Flexibility for Services Subject to Significant Competitive
Challenges), whichever is applicable.
(B) A CTU must provide a copy of the text of
the proposed notice to notify the public of the request for 311 service with
the filing of an application for regulatory approval of the CTU's provision of
311 service.
(C) No application for
311 service allowing the governmental entity to charge its citizens a fee on a
per-call or per-use basis for using the 311 system must be approved.
(D) All applications for 311 service must
include the governmental entity's plan to educate its populace about the use of
311 at the inception of 311 service and its plan to educate its populace at the
termination of the governmental entity's provision of 311 service.
(5) Notice. The presiding officer
will determine the appropriate level of notice to be provided and may require
additional notice to the public.
(A) The CTU
must file with the commission a copy of the text of the proposed notice to
notify the public of the request for 311 service and the filing of an
application for regulatory approval of the CTU's provision of 311 service. This
copy of the proposed notice must be filed with the commission not later than
ten days after the CTU receives the 311 service request; and
(B) The proposed notice must include the
identity of the governmental entity, the geographic area to be affected if the
new 311 service is approved, and the following language: "Persons who wish to
comment on this application should notify the commission by (specified date, 30
days after notice is published in the Texas Register).
Requests for further information should be mailed to the Public Utility
Commission of Texas, P.O. Box 13326, Austin, Texas 78711-3326, or you may call
the PUCT Consumer Protection Division at (512) 936-7120 or toll free at (888)
782-8477. Hearing- and speech-impaired individuals may contact the commission
through Relay Texas at 1-800-735-2989."
(6) A CTU is authorized to provide 311
service only to governmental entities.
(7) A 311 service request must initiate the
six-month deadline to "take any necessary steps to complete 311 calls" as
required by the Federal Communications Commission's Order In the Matter of the
Use of N11 Codes and Other Abbreviated Dialing Arrangements, CC Docket No.
92-105, FCC 97-51, 12 F.C.C.R. 5572 (February 19, 1997).
(8) 311 calls must not be completed over the
911 network or use the 911 database.
(9) The 311 network must not be used for
commercial advertisements.
(10) To
preserve the privacy of callers who wish to use the governmental entity's
non-emergency service anonymously, a CTU which uses Automatic Number
Identification (ANI) service, Automatic Location Identification (ALI) service
or other equivalent non-blockable information-gathering features for the
provision of 311 service must establish a non-abbreviated phone number that
will access the same non-emergency police and governmental services as the 311
service while honoring callers' call- and line-blocking preference. When
publicizing the availability of the 311 service, the governmental entity must
inform the public if its 311 service has caller or number identification
features, and must publicize the availability of the non-abbreviated phone
number that offers the same service with caller anonymity. When a CTU uses a
Caller Identification service or other equivalent features to provide 311
service, relevant provisions of the commission's substantive rules and of the
Public Utility Regulatory Act apply.
(11) The commission has the authority to
limit the use of 311 abbreviated dialing codes to applications that are found
to be in the public interest.
(12)
The commission has the authority to decide which governmental entity must
provide 311 service when there are conflicting requests for concurrent 311
service for the same geographic area, to the extent that negotiations between
or among the affected governmental entities fail. The commission will consider
the following factors in determining conflicting requests for 311 service:
(A) the nature of the service, including the
proposed public education portion to be provided by the governmental entity;
and
(B) the potential magnitude of
use of the requested 311 service, such as the number of residents served by the
governmental entity and their potential frequency of access to the governmental
agencies wishing to use the 311 service.
(13) When termination of 311 service is
desired, the CTU must file a notice of termination with the commission that
contains:
(A) proposed notice to the affected
area of the termination of 311 service; and
(B) the program to educate the affected
public of the termination of 311 service.
(14) The commission, after receiving the
CTU's proposed notice of termination of 311 service and approving the proposed
notice through an administrative review, will cause the approved notice to be
published in the Texas Register.
(f) 811 service.
(1) Scope and purpose. This subsection
applies to the assignment, provision, and termination of 811 service. Through
this subsection, the commission implements the Federal Communications
Commission's requirements in Use of N11 Codes and Other Abbreviated
Dialing Arrangements, Sixth Report and Order, CC Docket No.92-105, FCC
05-59 (Mar. 14, 2005), that designated 811 as the national abbreviated dialing
code to be used by state One Call notification systems for providing advanced
notice of excavation activities to underground facility operators in compliance
with the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002. The commission intends to
reduce the possibility of disruptions to underground facilities by implementing
811 service. Implementation of 811 service will facilitate advance notice by
excavators of planned excavations to facility operators, allowing facility
operators to mark and prepare their facilities before excavation.
(2) Authority. Authority for One Call
Excavation Notification resides with the Texas Underground Facility
Notification Corporation (TUFNG), doing business as One Call Board of Texas and
in accordance with Chapter 251 of the Texas Utilities Code.
(3) Customer Responsibility. TUFNG is a
customer of 811 service. Telecommunications providers whose 811 service is
regulated by the commission may require TUFNG to provide 60-days written notice
for any call center number additions or changes to ensure timely numbered
translations by the 811 service providers.
(4) Limitations of liability.
Telecommunications providers whose 811 service is regulated by the commission
may limit their liability for the provision of 811 service through the
inclusion of liability limitations in their tariffs. Liability for gross
negligence or willful misconduct cannot be limited.
Notes
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