The American Hotel & Lodging Association will launch...
The American Hotel & Lodging Association will launch an internal task force to address issues regarding 911 calls from hotels, it said Friday. FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai earlier in the week sent letters to CEOs of major hotel chains, following…
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a December incident in which a child tried to dial 911 when her mother was being strangled by her estranged husband. The child had not first dialed 9 for an outside line so that call did not go through, Pai said. “The hotel industry understands the seriousness and importance of the issues raised,” said AH&LA President Katherine Lugar. “Since this issue impacts other businesses as well, we are reaching out to organizations to work together to ensure it’s addressed in a meaningful way across the board.” AH&LA said the problem isn’t simple to solve: “Some hotel telephone systems allow direct access to an outside line for 911 calls, some are set to dial both 9 and 911, and similar to other businesses, some require guests to dial 9 to obtain an outside line. Hotels must take into consideration a variety of factors, both internal, including operational challenges, and external, including municipal, county, and state requirements.” Pai said he was pleased AH&LA was studying the issue: “Nothing can undo the tragic death this past December of Kari Hunt Dunn in Marshall, Texas, which brought this issue to the nation’s attention. But resolving this problem would be a fitting tribute to Kari’s memory."