911 Call Center Briefing Request

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Mackenzie Kelly
Posts: 73
Joined: Tue Jan 12, 2021 2:56 pm

911 Call Center Briefing Request

Post by Mackenzie Kelly »

Colleagues,

Last week, CM Kitchen joined me in a request for a briefing at our next work session regarding an update about compression and pay at the 911 call center from our human resources department.

Given the following information below, I'd like to broaden that request to include plans to address the vacancies and answer rates at the 911 call center.

Currently, the 911 call center has the following vacancies:

19 out of 75 dispatchers
50 out of 105 911 operators
1 Supervisor
3 Dispatch leads

There are a total of 73 overall vacancies in the call center, which has led to the following challenges I would like to make you all aware of:

The answer rate at the 911 call center as of Friday of last week for the month of October is 64.09% within 15 seconds. According to the National Emergency Number Association, the National Standard for answer rates across the country is 90% in 15 seconds or less.

For perspective, month to date, there have been a total of 38,236 calls to 911 for service. The average hold time of those calls has been 150 seconds or 2.5 minutes.

Public safety is among my top concerns in the City of Austin. Our dispatchers and call takers deserve to work in an environment that allows them to provide the highest level of service possible. Austinites deserve a timely response and adequate staffing at the 911 call center.

I invite you to join me in this request to ensure we understand the challenges in front of us and that we can address them timely and properly.

Warm Regards,

mk
Council Member, District 6
Jose Chito Vela
Posts: 80
Joined: Fri Feb 11, 2022 8:16 am

Re: 911 Call Center Briefing Request

Post by Jose Chito Vela »

CM Kelly,

Thanks to you and CM Kitchen for addressing this critical issue. I agree we need a work session briefing on operations at the 911 call center, the impact of recently implemented wage increases for 911 operators, and any additional proposed changes or suggestions management has to reduce hold times and improve performance.

Chito
Ann Kitchen
Posts: 294
Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2015 4:04 pm

Re: 911 Call Center Briefing Request

Post by Ann Kitchen »

Colleagues

I join you in requesting a progress update at Tuesday’s worksession on the operations of the 911 Call Center.
In August, City Council passed the resolution I cosponsored with CM Kelly, Fuentes, Vela and MPT Alter directing the City Manager to report progress to the City Council in 3 months. Given the difficulties with response time the Call Center continues to experience – it is timely and critical to have this briefing sooner.

Specifically, its time for the City Council to hear progress on:
• Reducing the vacancy rate and the impact on wait times for 911 call center response.
• Number of people applying, number hired and current vacancy rate.
• APD and HRs assessment on the impact of salary increases and stipends on decreasing the vacancy rate,
• Actions to address compression issues,
• Remaining challenges, and
• Recommendations for addressing these challenges.

I appreciate the efforts to address this situation to date. We must act with greater urgency and the Council stands ready to assist.
My heartfelt appreciation for our 911 Call Center staff who work everyday with our public safety staff to keep us safe.

Best
Ann Kitchen
City Council D5
Ann Kitchen
Council Member District 5
Vanessa Fuentes
Posts: 63
Joined: Tue Jan 19, 2021 9:02 am

Re: 911 Call Center Briefing Request

Post by Vanessa Fuentes »

Thank you, CM Kitchen, for your strong leadership on this issue. I will also join you and CM Kelly in this request for a briefing. In addition to the briefing, I ask that Manager Cronk have a plan of ACTION for us to consider immediate and long-term strategies for the City of Austin to improve the 911 call center response and staff vacancies.

Austinites should not be waiting on hold, especially in life-or-death situations. Minutes and seconds matter. We need to take action immediately.

Thank you to the 911 Call Center staff for all their hard work. We appreciate you!

Yours in community,
Vanessa
Council Member, District 2
Kathie Tovo
Posts: 128
Joined: Thu Oct 30, 2014 11:18 am

Re: 911 Call Center Briefing Request

Post by Kathie Tovo »

Thank you, colleagues. I share your sense of urgency and your commitment to hearing a plan of action at this briefing. CM Kitchen has set out a clear list of questions; to those, I would add a request that the City Manager provide us with detailed information about staffing levels over the past 5 years so that we can assess when and how the situation progressed to such an alarming state. I would also request that he provide information about ranges and averages related to length of service.

best,
Kathie Tovo
Council District 9
Alison Alter
Posts: 211
Joined: Fri Jan 13, 2017 3:52 pm

Re: 911 Call Center Briefing Request

Post by Alison Alter »

Individually and with colleagues since the summer of 2021 I have had a dozen plus meetings with APD, HR, the City Manager, and Emergency Communications staff and leadership about these vacancies and response times. We’ve passed items in the budget and resolutions. We’ve talked at length about our concerns on the dais. It is high time that management treated the situation with the urgency it deserves.

Regards,
Alison Alter
Council Member, District 10
Ann Kitchen
Posts: 294
Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2015 4:04 pm

Re: 911 Call Center Briefing Request

Post by Ann Kitchen »

Colleagues

I would like to also request an executive session for the Tuesday work session on this topic. I believe there may be issues that warrant it, and given the urgency of the matter, I would appreciate the opportunity to have those discussions if needed.

Best
Ann Kitchen
City Council D5
Ann Kitchen
Council Member District 5
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