Emergency Call Center Workers Disciplined and Fired Over Botched Dispatch

When it comes to distractions at work, we’re all different. Some people areput off by the slightest interruptions at work, while others are able toeasily tune out distractions and focus on their work. In the call center – particularly if the work is vital to public safety – distractions can be dangerous, and even deadly. The same goes for boredom, which can lead to distraction.

Call center work has spikes of activity that can be followed by a low ebb of calls, which often leads agents to look for entertainment, whether it’s social media, games or even video. One emergency dispatch center in Coral Springs, Florida is learning the hard way that distractions can lead to lost jobs and increased danger for the public.

CBSMiami is reporting that a local woman, Guadalupe Herrera, called 911 when a bullet hit the rear window of her car.

“Something blew through my car. I’m shocked,” Herrera told a male dispatcher who picked up her emergency call.

“Can you see it?” he asked.

“It’s a metal piece. I’m so scared. It made a hole in my wheel,” Herrera told him.

Instead of classifying the call as a “shooting,” however, the dispatcher logged it as a “suspicious incident,” which put it on a low priority list. Police never arrived. After no help arrived and fearing for her life, Herrera finally drove herself to a police station.

“After a lengthy investigation into how her emergency call was handled, the department has fired two dispatchers and disciplined a supervisor who had a Netflix movie streaming up on one of her screens while the incident unfolded,” according to CBS Miami.

The department has now disallowed employees from using streaming video in the contact center.

While most contact centers aren’t handling issues of life and death, it’s important to ensure that agents minds are on the job when they’re supposed to be working. That said, repetitive tasks can get boring, so be sure that agents are engaged without being overwhelmed, bored or distracted. This can be accomplished with engaging training programs designed to sharpen skills and empower agents. When agents are bored with low activity, provide them with an engaging e-learning experience that adds to their skills sets yet changes up their work routine enough to stave off boredom. This way, you keep your agents focused and improve their skills simultaneously.

Edited by Maurice Nagle