Chatham 911 Center reports improvements in process times, staffing, abandoned calls
CHATHAM COUNTY, Ga. (WSAV) — The Chatham County Emergency 911 Center is reporting improvements in process times, staffing and abandoned calls.
WSAV told you last year about concerns with the E911 Center. Then, some people were said they had to wait up to 30 minutes for a call taker to pick up.
WSAV took those viewer concerns to management at the center. Now, E911 Deputy Director Russ Palmer is reporting progress.
'We've seen a decrease in our process times year over year. We're excited to see that continue moving forward,' Palmer said.
In 2023, 15% of E911 calls were abandoned or left unanswered. This includes caller hang ups.
'We've actually had a 23 percent reduction in our abandoned call rate,' Palmer said.
He attributes this change to having an almost full staff of 107 people.
'We have eight vacancies right now, so that's absolutely amazing compared to the last time we talked about it,' Palmer said.
E911 Director Diane Pickney said they'll be able to expand their staff even more with the new E911 facility, which is still in the proposal process.
'With the population growth in Chatham County, it has made it necessary for us to over-hire when it comes to call taking staff. So, we're kind of quickly running out of space,' Pickney said.
According to Palmer, the E911 center is averaging about 1,500 calls a day. He said this is a high amount, but their Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system makes the job easier.
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'It allows alarm companies to directly enter their calls into the system instead of a member of our staff having to answer those calls,' Palmer said. 'Last year, that saved us almost 5,000 minutes of talk time.'
The 24-person Non-emergency Center has helped to lower the E911 call volume.
Palmer said the Next Generation 911 Project will upgrade their phone system, 'Which is going to allow us to gather caller location more accurately. It's going to allow us to share calls between jurisdictions that might get us routed more easily, but it also provides more sustainability and redundancy for the county cell system.'
There's no timeline yet on the new E911 center. WSAV will provide updates as we receive them on the new center.
The directors wanted to remind folks to help them out as well. If you need assistance but your situation isn't life threatening, call their non-emergency line at 912-652-6500.
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