988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline launches georouting service to direct crisis calls based on location

The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline last week announced that georouting, a process which routs cellphone calls to 988 contact centers based on the caller's approximate location, began last week with two major U.S. wireless carriers, that, together, make up nearly half of all wireless calls to 988. The Federal Communications Commission will vote at its open meeting Oct. 17 to codify final rules on georouting, making the practice a requirement for all U.S. carriers. The rules would also establish a 30-day implementation timeline for georouting calls following the effective date of the rule for nationwide carriers and 24 months for non-nationwide providers.