The Implementation of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act

Audit Report 06-13
March 2006
Office of the Inspector General

Content of Subject-Initiated Conference Calls (Conference Calling). Capability that enables law enforcement to access the content of conference calls supported by the subject’s service (including the call content of parties on hold). Party Hold, Party Join, Party Drop (Multi-Party Call). Messages would be sent to law enforcement that identify the active parties of a call. Specifically, on a conference call, these messages would indicate whether a party is on hold, has joined, has joined or has been dropped from the call. Access to Subject-Initiated Dialing and Signaling (Dialing/Signaling Information). Access to all dialing and signaling information available from the subject would inform law enforcement of a subject’s use of features. (Examples include the use of flash-hook and other feature keys). In-Band and Out-of-Band Signaling (Ring/Busy Signal). A message would be sent to law enforcement when a subject’s service sends a tone or other network message to the subject or associate. This can include notification that a line is ringing or busy. Timing to Associate Call Data to Content (Timing Information). Information necessary to correlate call identifying information with the call content of a communications interception. Post-Cut-Through Dialed Digits (Dialed Digit Extraction). Extraction and delivery on a call data channel of call-routing digits dialed by a subject after the initial call setup is completed. Cell Site Location. Although cell site location was not part of the punchlist, many law enforcement representatives we spoke with found this feature extremely useful. Cell site location allows law enforcement to track the movement of a target by monitoring the locations of the cell towers accessed during the target’s cell phone calls.