Public Safety 9-1-1 Call Screening
Process 9-1-1 emergency calls faster.
Each year 9-1-1 emergency departments receive thousands and sometimes millions of calls that are not real emergency calls but mis-dialed or non-emergency calls. It is estimated that 40% of incoming calls to 9-1-1 are accidently dialed by wireless cell phones when children play with a phone, or a cell phone gets bumped in someone’s purse or pocket. Since every 9-1-1 call is has to be treated as a real emergency, operators waste valuable time trying to determine if the call is really an emergency or mis-dialed. To deal with this problem many 9-1-1 emergency centers have installed front-end solutions to answer all or some cell phone calls before the 9-1-1 operators handle the call. These systems determine if the call is a real emergency (and thereby direct it to the 9-1-1 emergency operator), or non-emergency (directing it to the non-emergency queue).
Why is 9-1-1 call screening so important?
Call screening is vital to 9-1-1 emergency departments because it takes mis-dialed or non-emergency calls out of the 9-1-1 emergency queue. This reduces huge call volumes, processes real emergency calls quicker and gets emergency services to those that need it faster. For example, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) answers 8 million 9-1-1 calls a year from wireless phones in the State of California. After implementing a 9-1-1 call screening system they have reduced their mis-dialed call volume by 19% or about 1.5 million calls a year. That means their 9-1-1 operators don't waste time answering over a million non-emergency or wrong number calls, and can instead focus on real emergency situations. The solution dramatically helped the California Highway Patrol save money, increase productivity, reduce 9-1-1 staff workload and enable them to be more responsive to real emergency situations.
1. Determine if a call is a real emergency.
To determine if a call is a real emergency, 9-1-1 call screening systems use a noise threshold or a message to prompt callers to enter a specific key if it is an emergency. If no key is pressed, or the noise threshold is too low it is assumed the call is mis-dialed and transfers the call to a secondary queue where an operator will try to legitimize the call. This removes the call from the 9-1-1 queue and allows other emergency calls to be answered.
2. Direct non-emergency calls to other queues.
9-1-1 systems play messages directing callers to emergency or non-emergency lines (i.e. “Press 1 if this is an emergency, press 2 if this is a non-emergency”). These systems automatically direct non-emergency calls to a different line, reducing call volumes in the 9-1-1 emergency queue.
3. Process real 9-1-1 emergency calls faster.
9-1-1 solutions eliminate mis-dialed and non-emergency calls from the 9-1-1 queue so operators can handle real emergency calls faster.
4. Reduce staff workload and increase productivity.
Eliminating mis-dialed or non-emergency calls means 9-1-1 operators have fewer calls to answer and more time to help people with real emergencies.
Interalia can help!
Interalia has helped many 9-1-1 emergency centers improve their call processing and reduce mis-dialed wireless calls. Our systems answer some or all wireless calls, provide overflow assistance, direct calls to non-emergency lines, transfer callers back to 9-1-1 services, or play emergency messages.
XMU+
