A. The commission shall administer a telecommunications relay system that enables impaired individuals to communicate with unimpaired individuals.

B. The commission shall invite proposals or bids, or both, from telecommunications companies to design and implement a telecommunications relay system. The commission shall comply with the provisions of the Procurement Code [13-1-28 to 13-1-199 NMSA 1978] in contracting for the services and property required. The commission shall consider the factors of price and the interest of the community of impaired individuals in having access to a high quality and technologically advanced system. New Mexico residency shall be given a weight of five percent of the total weight of all evaluation factors in a proposal evaluation. Any business that qualifies as a "resident business" as defined in Section 13-1-21 NMSA 1978 shall receive a five percent preference. In the procurement process, the commission shall request and consider the recommendations of the communications assistants who have provided the voice relay service used in the state.

C. If the commission determines that no proposal or bid is acceptable after review, the commission may provide the telecommunications relay system.

D. The telecommunications relay system shall:

(1) be available statewide for operation twenty-four hours a day every day of the year;

(2) relay all messages promptly and accurately;

(3) protect and maintain the privacy of individuals using the system;

(4) preserve the confidentiality of all telephone communications; and

(5) conform to all applicable standards established by state and federal laws and regulations adopted pursuant to those laws.

History: Laws 1993, ch. 54, § 6; 2004, ch. 106, § 3.

The 2004 amendment, effective July 1, 2005, in Subsection A, deleted "department, in consultation with the" and deleted the last sentence; and in Subsections B and C, deleted "department, after consultation with" and changed "department" to "commission".