Call Center Management Featured Article
911 Center Adds Call Takers to Improve Call Management
With growing pressure on 911 dispatchers the Tulsa, Okl. 911 Call Center has decided to add more call takers to better manage the incoming calls since changes were made to the department last winter.
Tulsaworld.com recently reported that in the past six months, 18 call takers have been added, while three have left the department. Additionally, the department is looking to start six more call takers in the training process within the next month.
“That would leave eight open positions to fill over the next few months, with an emphasis on bilingual call takers”, said Terry Baxter, director of the 911 Public Safety Communications Department. "We hope to have those filled and training as soon as this class gets out.”
The new staff members have started taking more calls on their own, which has helped make call times faster as the call takers become more experienced and has decreased overtime costs as more call takers become full time.
In December, Mayor Dewey Bartlett announced that he would make the 911 Call Center its own department, separating it from the city's Information Technology Department as a result of the Management Review Office's evaluation of a KPMG efficiency study recommendation and the City Council's 911 Task Force report.
Call taker entry-level pay has increased by 17 percent and existing employees have been given pay raises, according to officials. The beginning salary is advertised at $2,335 per month.
Part of the emphasis for new employees is the ability to speak English and Spanish. The center is receiving more 911 calls from Spanish-speaking people, but has no bilingual call takers, so the center uses a language-translation service, which costs the city each time it is used, according to Baxter.
New employees go through a four-week training class that includes learning the geography of the city. They also learn about the types of calls and situations they could face, Baxter said. They then spend four to six weeks with an experienced call taker to gain experience before taking calls on their own.
"We have to be patient," Baxter said. "I know everyone wants things to happen, but you can't just throw someone on the phones."
Another part of the office's reorganization included hiring a training coordinator. The new coordinator has a background in law enforcement and is certified by the Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training. Also, the department is looking into new technologies to expand the ways people contact the department.
It's all with the goal of making the department more efficient, Baxter said. Before the reorganization, about 51 percent of calls received were answered within National Emergency Number Association standards, which states that 90 percent of the calls must be received within 10 seconds. Currently, most calls are taken within the 20-second range, but the goal is to get as close to 10 seconds as possible.
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Edited by Allison Boccamazzo