SUMMARY OF FCC COMMISSIONER AJIT PAI’S REPORT ON THE PROGRESS 
BEING MADE TO ENSURE THAT DIALING 911 ALWAYS WORKS
On January 23, 2015, Commissioner Ajit Pai updated the American public on the 
progress being made to ensure that dialing 911 always works.  Commissioner Pai launched an 
inquiry into this issue one year ago when he learned that the multi-line telephone systems 
(MLTS) used in many hotels and other large buildings often required guests to dial “9” or some 
other access code before dialing 911. At the headquarters of the Marshall, TX Police 
Department, Commissioner Pai reported as follows:
? Where We Started One Year Ago
o None of the major hotel chains required their franchisees to permit direct 911 dialing.
o At 68% of independently-owned hotels and at 55% of franchised hotels, directly dialed 
911 calls would not go through.  Only 25% of surveyed MLTS vendors reported that all 
of their products shipped with a default setting that allowed for direct 911 dialing.
? Where We Are Now
Hotels
o 100% of the hotels owned or managed by Carlson, Hyatt, InterContinental, La Quinta, 
Marriott, Motel 6, Starwood, and Wyndham now permit direct 911 dialing. Hilton is at 
99% (up from 50% in April 2014) and expects to reach 100% this year.
o 70% of the largest hotel chains have required or are in the process of requiring all 
franchise locations to have direct 911 dialing.  That alone will extend direct 911 dialing 
to over 7,800 properties.
o 100% of the franchised locations of La Quinta now permit direct 911 dialing.  Over 
75% of Marriott’s franchised locations do, and it expects to reach 100% this year.
o InterContinental, which includes Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, and Staybridge, now has 
direct 911 dialing at 824 of the 927 locations that previously lacked the capability.  It is 
committed to converting the remaining 103 properties by the end of March.
o By the end of 2015, the 911 problem should be solved at all Country Inn & Suites, 
Crowne Plaza, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Fairfield Inn, Four Points, Gaylord, 
Hampton Inn, Hilton, Holiday Inn, Hyatt, InterContinental, La Quinta, Marriott, Motel 
6, Park Plaza, Radisson, Residence Inn, Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, Sheraton, Staybridge, 
W, and Westin properties.
MLTS Vendors
o 50% of surveyed MLTS vendors now ship all of their MLTS products with a default 
setting of direct 911 dialing.  This includes Shortel, Windstream, NEC, and Vertical 
Communications.
o 100% of surveyed MLTS vendors now recommend that their products be set up to 
allow direct 911 dialing.
o Several vendors are taking other steps to ensure that existing customers configure their 
MLTS systems to allow direct 911 dialing, such as offering free or low cost options to 
modify equipment and sending product support notices.