July 17, 2020 – The Federal Communications Commission has released a Report And Order creating new rules that establish 988 as the new, nationwide, 3-digit phone number for Americans in crisis to connect with suicide prevention and mental health crisis counselors.[1]

The rules require all voice service providers to direct all 988 calls to the existing National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by July 16, 2022. The new 988 rules apply to all telecommunications carriers as well as all interconnected and one-way Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service providers.

All service providers will bear their own costs of implementing 988 in their networks.[2] The FCC notes, however, that carriers or providers are not precluded from adjusting their rates to end users to account for these costs if necessary.[3]

There is a two-year transition for compliance with the 988 rules, which are intended to account for the real challenges of implementing 988 nationwide, including the need for widespread network changes and providing time for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline to prepare for the expected increase in the volume of calls.

Under the FCC’s 988 rules, calls to 988 will be directed to 1-800-273-TALK, which will remain operational during the 988 transition and after it is completed. To ensure that calls to 988 reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, all covered providers will be required to implement 10-digit dialing in areas that both use seven-digit dialing and use 988 as the first three numbers in seven-digit phone numbers.

The FCC’s actions add new Subpart E – Universal Dialing Code for National Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Crisis Hotline System – to Part 52, Numbering, of the FCC’s rules.

47 C.F.R. § 52.200(b) – Transmit 988 Calls to National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – All covered providers shall transmit all calls initiated by an end user dialing 988 to the current toll free access number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, presently 1-800-273-8255 (TALK).

47 C.F.R. § 52.200(c) – 988 Implementation 10-Digit Dialing & Central Office Code – All covered providers shall complete 10-digit dialing implementation in areas that use 7-digit dialing and have assigned 988 as a central office code as defined in §52.7(c) by July 16, 2022.

47 C.F.R. § 52.200(d) – 988 Implementation – All covered providers shall complete all changes to their systems that are necessary to implement the designation of the 988 dialing code by July 16, 2022.

47 C.F.R. § 52.200(e) – Covered Provider – All covered The term “covered provider” means any telecommunications carrier, interconnected VoIP provider, or provider of one-way VoIP.

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[1] Implementation of the National Suicide Hotline Improvement Act of 2018, WC Docket No. 18-336, Report And Order, FCC 20-100 (July 17, 2020), https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-20-100A1.pdf.

[2] Report And Order at ¶¶ 69-72.

[3] Id. at ¶ 72.