What's happening
This bill requires public buildings with multi-line phone systems to allow direct 911 dialing or post instructions if upgrades are not feasible.
Why it matters
Improves emergency response by ensuring that anyone in a public building can directly reach 911 without needing to dial extra numbers or prefixes. , which can be confusing or time-consuming during a crisis.
Addresses technological gaps by requiring clear instructions on how to reach 911 if the phone system cannot be upgraded. , helping prevent fatal delays due to user confusion with complex phone systems.
Covers a wide range of public institutions (state, local government, schools, etc.), making the requirement broadly impactful. and increasing public safety across many types of facilities.
Pushes public entities to modernize outdated phone systems where feasible. , potentially leading to broader technological upgrades and improved communication infrastructure over time.
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Who cares
State and local government building managers
The bill would require public buildings with multi-line telephone systems to configure them so calls to 911 connect directly to a public service answering point, unless doing so requires a hardware upgrade.
School districts
District-owned buildings with multi-line telephone systems would face the direct-dialing requirement or, if exempt, have to display emergency dialing instructions on or immediately beside every telephone.
Employees and visitors in public buildings
They would be able to dial 911 directly on covered systems or receive posted instructions explaining how to reach 911 on exempt systems.
Public service answering points
They would receive directly connected 911 calls from public-building telephone systems covered by the requirement.
Headline styles
Require Direct 911 Calls
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
Senator · Senate District 8
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Approval memo.74
- Signed chap.727
- Delivered to governor
- Returned to senate
- Passed assembly
- Ordered to third reading cal.217
- Substituted for A458
- Referred to ways and means
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 61–0
- Advanced to third reading
- 2nd report cal.
Show 2 earlier actions
- 1st report cal.473
- Referred to veterans, homeland security and military affairs
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Direct 911 Dialing in Buildings
Assembly Floor Calendar · Sponsor Amy Paulin
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
4756
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
March 22, 2019
Introduced by Sen. BROOKS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to direct dialing to public service answering points
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 717-a to read as follows:
§ 717-a. Direct dialing to public service answering points. 1. For purposes of this section, "public building" shall mean any building belonging to the state, county, town, village, school district or any other political or civil subdivision of state or local government.
2. For purposes of this section, "multi-line telephone system" shall mean any system comprised of common control units, telephone sets, control hardware and software, and adjunct systems which enables users to make and receive telephone calls using shared resources such as telephone network trunks or data link bandwidth. This term includes, but is not limited to, network-based and premises-based systems such as Centrex service, premises-based, hosted and cloud-based VoIP, as well as PBX, Hybrid and Key Telephone Systems, as classified by the FCC under Part 68 of its rules.
3. All public buildings which operate on a multi-line telephone system in this state must configure their multi-line telephone system hardware to allow any call to 911 on the system to be directly connected to a public service answering point.
4. The requirements of subdivision three of this section shall not apply to any public building operating on a multi-line telephone system that would be required to upgrade the hardware of their telephone network to meet said requirement. However, every telephone in any exempt public building operating on a multi-line telephone system shall place
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00608-01-9
S. 4756 2
an instructional sticker on or immediately adjacent to each telephone informing users of the phone's inability to directly dial 911 and the procedures to follow to connect to a 911 public service answering point in case of an emergency.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become a law.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to direct dialing to public service answering points
Purpose
The purpose of this bill is to help ensure that people in public build- ings know how to access 911 in case of an emergency.
Summary of provisions
Section 1. adds a new section, 717-a, to the Executive Law. This section defines "public building" and "multi-line telephone system." It also sets the requirement that all public buildings operating on a multi-line telephone system configure their system hardware to allow any call to 911 on the system to be directly connected to a public service answering point. However, an exception to this requirement would be established for any public building that would be required to upgrade their system hardware in order to comply. If such an exception applies, telephones in such public building would be required to have an instructional sticker on or around the telephone informing users of the phone's inability to directly dial 911 and the procedures to follow to connect to 911 in case of an emergency.
Section 2. is the enacting clause.
Justification
People in our state expect that if they dial 911 in an emergency, they will be connected to a public service answering point, and that emergen- cy assistance will be dispatched. However, this is not always the case when an individual calls 911 from a multi-line telephone system. Multi- line telephone systems often require users to dial additional numbers in order to be connected to an outside line. These telephone systems are commonly found in public office buildings, schools, and places of public accommodation such as hotels and motels. In order to ensure that precious time is not wasted in an emergency, multi-line telephone systems should be converted to allow users to directly dial 911. In the event that a public building does not have a system that is capable of converting, that entity should place an instructional sticker on or around the telephone alerting users of the steps to take to make an emergency telephone call.
Fiscal implications
Minimal.
Effective date
This act shall take place on the ninetieth day after it shall have become law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.