Implementation of the National Suicide Hotline Act of 2018
In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) adopted a Third Report and Order that requires wireless providers to implement a georouting solution for calls to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (988 Lifeline or Lifeline) to facilitate access to critical local intervention services. The majority of calls to the 988 Lifeline are made from wireless phones. However, the 988 Lifeline's system was originally designed to route calls to crisis centers based on a caller's area code and exchange, which may not correspond to the caller's physical location. With georouting data, the 988 Lifeline will be able to route wireless calls to local crisis centers based on the geographic area where the handset is located at the time the 988 call is initiated while maintaining privacy by not identifying the caller's precise location. The Third Report and Order also revises the Commission's existing 988 voice and texting rules to permit routing to the 988 Lifeline without translation to a toll free access number, giving wireless providers flexibility in implementing georouting solutions.