Durham, North Carolina Takes Steps to Fill Empty Seats in 911 Call Center

The global COVID-19 pandemic has been hard on call center staffing, as many call center managers will attest. Older workers have elected to retire rather than risk catching the virus in close working quarters. Many younger workers have decided that the low pay is not worth the high risk, and extended unemployment benefits have helped them scrape by without working. While this is a headache for most private organizations, it’s a full-blown health crisis for emergency services call centers.

In Durham, North Carolina, the number of empty seats at the Durham Emergency Communications Center has grown to 28 from the 25 vacancies last month, according to a recent report by local news source CBS 17. This has led to long waits on 911 calls to the center. The city has revealed that 78 percent of 911 calls in Durham were answered in 15 seconds or less during the month of July, which is less-than-optimal: the National Emergency Number Association’s standard is for 90 percent of calls to be answered in 15 seconds or less.

During a recent work session, DECC Director Randy Beeman discussed the initiatives the city is taking to fill empty 911 call center seats. These include incentives to try and attract more experienced 911 agents, and additional training personnel to get new recruits up to speed faster. Finally, the city is offering an overtime incentive to existing staffers to encourage them to work longer hours. 911 operators who work overtime are now being paid double time for that extra time.

“I recognize and take responsibility that we are not meeting acceptable standards of call answer times,” Beeman told CBS 17. “We are not meeting the expectations of our residents and visitors when callers are not able to receive assistance in an appropriate time.”

The city has said it hopes to have 20 more workers trained and ready to begin working by the end of the year. 

Edited by Luke Bellos