Number Portability Administration Center Transition: Impact on PSAPs

With the advent of number portability, where a subscriber could change telecom service providers yet keep their same number, there was a need for PSAPs and law enforcement to have a way to identify the service provider for a . By knowing this, PSAPs and law enforcement agencies knew which service provider to contact to pursue actions such as initiating a determining the owner or installation location of a phone number, trace of a call, pinging a phone, or conducting investigation related research.

The Number Portability Administration Center (NPAC) is an organization facilitates number porting in the U.S. for wireline, , and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers. Their system supports the implementation of Local Number Portability and provides users with access to the most current and accurate data for ported telephone numbers, including porting information and the service provider’s law enforcement contact information.

The NPAC administers a database that identifies the current service provider for ported telephone numbers. PSAPs and law enforcement have had access to the services provided by the NPAC in two ways. Typically, PSAPs have used a free, telephone-based service called the NPAC IVR (integrated voice response) where they could call a toll-free number, enter a PIN code, enter the phone number in question, and receive back an automated response of whether it was a ported number, and if so, the current service provider and their law enforcement contact number. Additionally, some law enforcement departments may have used NPAC’s enhanced service offerings (Enhanced Law Enforcement Platform (ELEP)) which have a subscription fee and are accessed online.

Effective March 4, 2018, the Number Portability Administration Center (NPAC) is migrating both their services used by PSAPs and law enforcement to a new vendor, . As a result, the access methods and user PIN codes are changing, and organizations need to re-register for the services they desire.

As a regional agency coordinating PSAP activities, the MESB has contacted iconectiv and obtained, on behalf of the metro area PSAPs, the new NPAC IVR access phone number, as well as a PIN to be used only by MESB PSAPs to access the free service. Effective 09:00 AM (CST) March 4, 2018, MESB PSAPs will use the following to access the NPAC IVR: 877-416-6551 PIN: 72461309 Note, the above NPAC IVR access information is for MESB PSAP use only and does NOT provide access to NPAC subscription services. If your law enforcement departments desire to continue their subscription fee-based services, they must re-register with NPAC’s new vendor, iconectiv, at the following website: www.numberportability.com

Should PSAPs encounter any questions or issues using the NPAC IVR, they can contact the Public Safety and Law Enforcement Help Desk 24 x 7 at: 844-511-3537 or [email protected].