Dictionary.com defines an emergency as "a serious situation or occurrence that happens unexpectedly and demands immediate action." We at WCCCA are trained to deal with emergencies and take our job seriously. When you call 9-1-1, you expect immediate action and it is our goal to accommodate those expectations.

Cellular phones have become a staple to our society. They have made communication easier and faster than ever before. But, they also generate a challenge. The challenge they present to the 9-1-1 system is the plague of accidental calls pouring into the system. Nearly 40% of all 9-1-1 calls processed at WCCCA are cellular. Of that 40%, roughly 30% are unintentional. The average time to process an unintentional call is 1 to 2 minutes. 1 to 2 minutes that could be used for an actual emergency.

When unintentional calls are received, our operators spend valuable resources attempting to contact the unknowing caller. If there is no response to the operator's attempts, they must release the call and attempt to contact the caller to confirm there is no emergency. During this process, more emergency calls pour into our center. These valuable human resources could and should be used to process these calls. So, instead of humans sorting through all of these unintentional calls, we have found a solution that uses technology to filter unintentional cellular calls from ever making it to an operator.

When a cellular call is routed to our phone switch, it is recognized and transferred to an automated voice announcement and call processing system. The system answers the call with a series of three recordings: English, Spanish, and TTY (hearing impaired). As soon as the recordings begin, the caller can press any key on their phone to be transferred immediately to an operator. From this point the call is processed like any other 9-1-1 emergency. If a key is not pressed, the call is eventually disconnected and removed from our system without taking time away from our valuable human operators.

We understand this adds another step to the cellular caller when they call 9-1-1, but feel it outweighs the alternative. Emergencies are not something you ever want to be challenged with, but when you have a 9-1-1 emergency, you expect someone to be on the other end of the call. We strive to make that possible, and are dedicated to processing emergencies as prompt and efficient as humanly and technically possible.