Section 1325.101  Definitions

 

"9-1-1 Authority" means the ETSB or qualified governmental entity that provides for the management and operation of a 9-1-1 system within the scope of those duties and powers as prescribed by the Emergency Telephone System Act (ETSA) [50 ILCS 750]. 

 

"9-1-1 Network" means the network used for the delivery of 9-1-1 emergency calls over dedicated and redundant facilities, as required by 83 Ill. Adm. Code 725 to a PSAP or backup PSAP that meets the applicable grade of service.

 

"9-1-1 System" means the geographic area that has been granted an order of Authority by the Administrator to use "9-1-1" as the primary emergency telephone number.

 

"9-1-1 System Provider" means any person, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, sole proprietorship, or entity of any description that acts as a 9-1-1 system provider within the meaning of ETSA Section 2 by contracting to provide 9-1-1 network and database services and that has been certified by the Commission pursuant to the Public Utilities Act [220 ILCS 5/13-900]. 

 

"9-1-1 Traditional Legacy Service" means that an arrangement of channels, such as loops, trunks and associated switching facilities to exchange voice and data.

 

"Access Line" means the connecting facility between a customer's premises network interface device and the local exchange carrier's facility that provides access to the switching network for local exchange and interexchange telecommunications service.

 

"Act" or "ETSA" means the Emergency Telephone System Act [50 ILCS 750].

 

"Adjacent Agencies" means any public or private safety agencies (police, firefighting, emergency medical and ambulance services or other emergency services) whose jurisdiction is outside the 9-1-1 system jurisdiction, but that is adjacent to or touches that 9-1-1 system's boundary.

 

"Administrator" means the Statewide 9-1-1 Administrator.

 

"Aid Outside Normal Jurisdiction Boundaries Agreement" means a written cooperative agreement entered into by all participating and adjacent agencies and public safety agencies providing that, once an emergency unit is dispatched to a request through a system, that unit shall render its services to the requesting party without regard to whether the unit is operating outside its normal jurisdictional boundaries.

 

"Audible Signal" means a buzzer, bell or tone device used to alert an individual that appropriate action is required.

 

"Automatic Alarm" or "Automatic Alerting Device" means any device that will access the 9-1-1 system for emergency services upon activation. [50 ILCS 750/2]

 

"Automatic Location Identification" or "ALI" means the automatic display at the PSAP of the caller's telephone number, the address/location of the telephone, and supplementary emergency services information.

 

"Automatic Number Identification" or "ANI" means the automatic display of the telephone number associated with the access line from which a call originates on the PSAP monitor.

 

"Backup PSAP" means a public safety answering point that serves as an alternate to the PSAP for enhanced systems and is at a different location and operates independently from the PSAP.  A backup PSAP may accept overflow calls from the PSAP or be activated in the event that the PSAP is disabled.

 

"Busy Day" means a consecutive 24-hour period during which the greatest volume of traffic is handled in the central office.

 

"Busy Hour" means the two consecutive half-hours each day during which the greatest volume of traffic is handled in the central office.

 

"Busy Tone" means an audible signal indicating a call cannot be completed because the called access line is busy. The tone is applied 60 times per minute.

 

"Call Referral" means a 9-1-1 service in which the PSAP telecommunicator provides the calling party with the telephone number of the appropriate public safety agency or other provider of emergency services.

 

"Call Relay" means a 9-1-1 service in which the PSAP telecommunicator takes the pertinent information from a caller and relays that information to the appropriate public safety agency or other provider of emergency services.

 

"Call Transfer" means a 9-1-1 service in which the PSAP telecommunicator receiving a call transfers the incoming call to the appropriate public safety agency or other provider of emergency services.

 

"Carrier" means a telecommunications carrier and a wireless carrier.

 

"Central Office" means the site where switching equipment is located.  A local central office, also called an end office, is the switching office where individual subscriber's access lines appear.  It houses the equipment that receives calls transmitted on the local loop and routes the call over the switched network either directly to the person called, if the call is placed to a location served by the same local central office, or to another central office, if the call is placed to a customer served by a different central office.

 

"Circuit" means the physical connection (or path) of channels, conductors and equipment between two given points through which an electronic or optical signal may be established.

 

"Commission" means the Illinois Commerce Commission.

 

"Customer Premises Equipment" or "CPE" means communications or terminal equipment located in the customer's facilities/terminal equipment at a PSAP.

 

"Default Routing" means a feature that allows emergency calls to be routed to a designated default PSAP if the incoming emergency call cannot be selectively routed due to ANI failure, garbled digits, or other causes that prevent selective routing.

 

"Department" means the Department of State Police.

 

"Direct Dispatch" means a 9-1-1 service that provides for the direct dispatch, by a PSAP telecommunicator, of the appropriate unit upon receipt of an emergency call and the decision as to the proper action to be taken.

 

"Diverse Routing" means the practice of routing circuits along different physical or electrical paths in order to prevent total loss of 9-1-1 service in the event of a facility or hardware failure.

 

"E9-1-1 Selective Router" means a telecommunications carrier switching office, or stand alone selective routing switch, equipped with enhanced 9-1-1 service capabilities. This switch serves as an E9-1-1 selective router for emergency calls from other local offices in the 9-1-1 service area.

 

"Emergency Call" means any type of request for emergency assistance through the 9‑1‑1 network, not limited to voice.  This may include a session established by signaling with two-way, real-time media and involves a human making a request for help.

 

"Emergency Service Number" or "ESN" is sometimes known as emergency service zone (ESZ).  An ESN is a three- to five-digit number representing a unique combination of public safety agencies (police, fire and emergency medical service) designated to serve a specific range of addresses within a particular geographic area or ESZ.  The term ESZ refers to the geographic area itself and is generally used only during the ESN definition process to label specific areas.  The ESN facilitates the selective routing of calls to appropriate PSAPs in a traditional legacy 9-1-1 system.

 

"Emergency Telephone System Board" or "ETSB" means a board appointed by the corporate authorities of any county or municipality that provides for the management and operation of a 9-1-1 system within the scope of the duties and powers prescribed by ETSA.  The corporate authorities shall provide for the manner of appointment, provided that members of the board meet the requirements of the statute.

 

"English Language Translation" or "ELT" means an alphanumeric description of the primary law enforcement, fire and emergency medical service agencies associated with a given emergency services zone number.  The ELT (also known as an "agency file" or "tell tale" in some systems) includes the name of the first-responder agency and may include its station number (for dispatch purposes) and telephone number.

 

"Enhanced 9-1-1" or "E9-1-1" means an emergency telephone system that includes dedicated network, selective routing, database, ALI, ANI, selective transfer, fixed transfer, and a call back number.

 

"Error ratio" means the percentage of database records that are not Master Street Address Guide valid for a specific 9-1-1 traditional legacy service system.

 

"Exchange" means a defined area, served by one or more telephone central offices, and approved by the Commission, within which a local exchange carrier furnishes service.  Exchanges are identified on exchange boundary maps on file with the Commission.

 

"Geospatial Mapping Data" means accurate references to a precise location on the earth's surface using latitude, longitude, elevation and datum that identifies the coordinate system used. 

 

"Geographic Information System" or "GIS" means a system for capturing, storing, displaying, analyzing and managing data and associated attributes that are spatially referenced.

 

"Grade of Service" means P.01 for Basic 9-1-1 or Enhanced 9-1-1 services or NENA i3 Solution standard for NG9-1-1 services. 

 

"Interconnected Voice Over Internet Protocol Provider" or "Interconnected VoIP Provider" means every corporation, company, association, joint stock company or association, firm, partnership, or individual, their lessees, trustees or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever that owns, controls, operates, manages, or provides within this State, directly or indirectly, Interconnected VoIP, service, or the meaning prescribed in 47 CFR 9.3 [220 ILCS 5/13-234 and 13-235].  VoIP service is a service that:

 

enables real-time, two-way voice communications;

 

requires a broadband connection from the user's location;

 

requires Internet protocol-compatible customer premises equipment; and

 

permits users generally to receive calls that originate on the public switched telephone network and to terminate calls to the public switched network.

 

"IP" means Internet Protocol.

 

"IP Gateway" means the point at which a circuit-switched call is encoded and repackaged into IP packets. Equipment that provides interconnection between two networks with different communications protocols.

 

"Joint ETSB" means a Joint Emergency Telephone System Board established by intergovernmental agreement of two or more municipalities or counties, or a combination thereof, to provide for the management and operation of a 9-1-1 system.

 

"Local Loop" means a channel between a customer's network interface and its serving central office. The most common form of loop, a pair of wires, is also called a line.

 

"Logging Recorder" means a device that records, stores and is capable of playing back all communication media with the domain to which it is assigned.  Media can include, but is not limited to, voice, radio, text and network elements involved with routing a 9-1-1 call.  Logging recorders should have the capability to simultaneously record from several sources.

 

"Master Street Address Guide" or "MSAG" means the computerized geographic file that either consists of all street and address data or its functional equivalent (i.e., Geospatial Mapping Data) within the 9-1-1 system area. This database is the key to the selective routing capability of E9-1-1 systems.  It matches an originating caller to a specific answering point based on the address data.  The MSAG will require updating after the initial file is created.

 

"Mechanical Dialer" means a device that either manually or remotely triggers a dialing device to access the 9-1-1 system. [50 ILCS 750/2]

 

"National Emergency Number Association" or "NENA" means the international not-for-profit organization whose purpose is to lead, assist and provide for the development, availability, implementation and enhancement of a universal emergency telephone number or system common to all jurisdictions through research, planning, publications, training and education. 

 

"NENA i3 Solution standard" means the NENA 08-003 Detailed Functional and Interface Standard for NG9-1-1 (i3), published by the National Emergency Number Association, 1700 Diagonal Rd., Suite 500, Alexandria VA 22314 (www.NENA.org) (June 14, 2011).  These standards are hereby incorporated by reference and do not include any later amendments or additions.

 

"Network Connection" means a voice grade communication channel directly between a subscriber and a telecommunications carrier's public switched network, without the intervention of any other telecommunications carrier's switched network, that would be required to carry the subscriber's interpremises traffic. The connection either is capable of providing access through the public switched network to a 9-1-1 system, if one exists; or, if no system exists at the time a surcharge is imposed under ETSA Section 15.3, would be capable of providing access through the public switched network to the local 9‑1-1 system if one existed. [50 ILCS 750/2]

 

"Network costs" means those recurring costs that directly relate to the operation of the 9-1-1 network, including costs for interoffice trunks, selective routing charges, transfer lines and toll charges for 9-1-1 services, Automatic Location Information (ALI) database charges, call box trunk circuit (including central office only and not including extensions to fire stations), independent local exchange carrier charges and nonsystem provider charges, carrier charges for third-party database for on-site customer premises equipment, backup PSAP trunks for nonsystem providers, periodic database updates as provided by carrier (also known as "ALI data dump"), regional ALI storage charges, circuits for call delivery (fiber or circuit connection), NG9-1-1 costs, and all associated fees, taxes and surcharges on each invoice. "Network Costs" shall not include radio circuits or toll charges that are for other than 9-1-1 services.

 

"Network Diagram" means a schematic flow chart that shows the actual network pieces and flow of activities in a picture.

 

"NG9-1-1" or "Next Generation 9-1-1 Service" means a system comprised of managed IP-based networks, gateways, functional elements and databases that augment or replicate present day E9-1-1 features and functions and provide new capabilities.  NG9-1-1 is designed to provide access to emergency services from all sources, and to provide multimedia data capabilities for PSAPs and other emergency service organizations.

 

"On-site Database" means a copy of the database that resides with the local 9-1-1 Authority.

 

"Order of Authority" means an order from the Administrator that authorizes public agencies or public safety agencies to provide 9-1-1 service in a geographical area.

 

"Originating Service Provider" or "OSP" means a communications provider that allows its users or subscribers to originate 9-1-1 voice or nonvoice messages from the public to the 9-1-1 Authority.

 

"Outbound Notification Systems" means a community outreach tool that automatically disperses information to the public and is not considered a function or part of a 9-1-1 system (see "System").

 

"Overflow" means a call or position used when a call is blocked or rerouted due to excessive traffic.

 

"P.01" means the probability (P), expressed as a decimal fraction of an emergency call being blocked.  P.01 is the grade of service reflecting the probability that one call out of 100 during the average busy hour of the average busy day will be blocked, or the number of 9-1-1 circuits or facilities from the 9‑1-1 system provider's routing equipment to the primary PSAP or PSAPs that is sufficient to complete 99% of all requests for emergency service during the average busy hour of the average busy day.

 

"Participating Agencies" means any public or private safety agency (police, firefighting, emergency medical and ambulance services or other emergency services, pursuant to ETSA Section 4) whose jurisdiction is located within the 9‑1‑1 system boundaries.

 

"Primary Point of Contact" or "9-1-1 Contact Person" means the individual designated by the 9-1-1 Authority as the contact point for the participating telecommunications carriers.

 

"Private Branch Exchange" or "PBX" means a private telephone system and associated equipment located on the user's property that provides communications between internal stations and external networks.

 

"Public Agency" means the State or any unit of local government or special purpose district located in whole or in part within this State that provides police, firefighting, medical or other emergency services or has authority to do so. [50 ILCS 750/2].

 

"Public Safety Agency" means a functional division of a public agency that provides police, firefighting, medical or other emergency services.

 

"Public Safety Answering Point" or "PSAP" means the initial answering location of an emergency call.

 

"Secondary Answering Point" or "SAP" means a location, other than a PSAP, that is able to receive the voice, data and call back number of E9-1-1 or NG9-1-1 emergency call transferred from a PSAP and completes the call taking process by dispatching police, medical, fire or other emergency responders.

 

"Selective Routing" means a switching system that automatically routes calls to predetermined PSAPs based on the location of the calling telephone number.

 

"Service Address" means the location of the primary use of the network connection or connections.

 

"Sexual Assault" or "Sexual Abuse" means an act of nonconsensual sexual conduct or sexual penetration, as defined in Section 12-12 of the Criminal Code of 1961 or Section 11-0.1 of the Criminal Code of 2012 [720 ILCS 5], including, without limitation, acts prohibited under Sections 12-13 through 12-16 of the Criminal Code of 1961 or Sections 11-1.20 through 11-1.60 of the Criminal Code of 2012.

 

"Split Exchange" means an exchange shared with more than one 9-1-1 system.

 

"Surcharge" means a monthly amount imposed, pursuant to ETSA Section 20, on all customers of telecommunications carriers, wireless carriers and interconnected VoIP providers for the purpose of installing and maintaining an E 9-1-1 or NG9‑1-1 system, with the exception of a municipality with a population of 500,000 or greater.

 

"System" means the communications equipment and related software applications required to produce a response by the appropriate emergency public safety agency or other provider of emergency services as a result of an emergency call.

 

"TDD" means a telecommunications device for the deaf.  See "TTY".

 

"Telecommunications Carrier" or "Carrier" shall have the same meaning ascribed in Section 13-202 of the Public Utilities Act [220 ILCS 5/13-202], including those carriers acting as resellers of telecommunications services. It includes telephone systems operating as mutual concerns, but does not include a wireless carrier.

 

"Telecommunications Service" shall have the meaning ascribed in the Public Utilities Act [220 ILCS 5/13-203].

 

"Telecommunicator" means a person who is trained and employed in public safety telecommunications and is qualified to answer incoming emergency calls and/or provides for the appropriate emergency response, either directly or through communication with the appropriate PSAP, SAP or VAP.

 

"Terminal Equipment" means telephone station apparatus.

 

"Transfer" means a feature that allows the PSAP telecommunicator to transfer emergency calls to a specific location or secondary PSAP.

 

"Trunk" means a transmission path between switching units, switching centers and/or toll centers.

 

"TTY" or "Teletypewriter" means a telegraph device capable of transmitting and receiving alphanumeric information over communications channels and capable of servicing the needs of those persons with a hearing or speech disability.

 

"Uninterruptible Power Supply" means an emergency power source that can detect any change in power line frequency or voltage and automatically compensates for these changes by supplying additional power or converting to an auxiliary power source, without any loss of voltage or frequency.

 

"Vendor" means an entity that provides some or all elements of E9-1-1, 9-1-1, and/or other services for which it incurs network costs for one or more 9‑1‑1 Authorities.

 

"Virtual Answering Point" or "VAP" means a temporary or nonpermanent location that:

 

is capable of receiving an emergency call;

 

contains a fully functional worksite that is not bound to a specific location, but rather is portable and scalable, connecting emergency call takers or dispatchers to the work process; and

 

is capable of completing the call dispatching process. 

 

(Source:  Amended at 42 Ill. Reg. 775, effective December 27, 2017)