Editor’s note: This article originally stated new legislation was to be introduced. However, the Alberta government has since clarified that standards will be be implemented, not legislation.
It’s a service that’s often taken for granted and one that’s always expected to be there when there is an emergency: 911. That’s why the Edmonton Police Service recently made a major investment to ensure there’s always someone available to answer the call.
In Edmonton alone, police have answered nearly 390,000 calls this year. To help handle that ever-growing volume, the police are constantly making improvements to their 911 answering service.
In September, Edmonton became the first city in Canada to have two 911 centres in operation at all times.
READ MORE: Do you know when to dial 911? 41% of Edmonton calls in 2016 not emergencies
The idea originated in New York, after the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
Most cities have a crash site — a secondary location that normally sits devoid of people — but full of technology that 911 operators and dispatchers can move to in the event of an emergency.
But it takes time to get to those sites, and seconds are precious in an emergency.
So New York, and now Edmonton, started an active-active 911 service – two fully operational sites, working simultaneously.
READ MORE: Edmonton police dealt with 10,000 more calls for service in 2015
“911 operators at each location, police evaluators at each location, police dispatchers at each location,” Staff Sgt. Bill Krull explained. “So in the event that one of the locations becomes inoperable, the other location can seamlessly take over operations.”
In Edmonton, 1,100 people dial 911 every day, and any one of those calls could be a matter of life or death.
Edmonton police said they want to make sure there is someone available to help, no matter what happens at one of the centres.
“It could be a technology piece that goes down, that would cause us to lose operability at one location. It could be a natural disaster that could cause us to lose a location,” Krull said.
The new 911 centre has all the bells and whistles. For example, the glass around a desk glows green if an operator is on a call. There’s also a live video connection between two buildings.
“We have to be able to link those call centres together, not only through the typical path of phone ways, but we also use video interface so we can see what’s happening in each call centre,” Krull explained.
Even with at least four people taking the 911 calls at any given time, on a daily basis, the system is overwhelmed with calls. Lights and an audible alarm let staff know if calls are backing up in the queue.
“Calls can bypass our 911 operators and go directly to our police evaluators, who can triage 911 calls as well,” Krull said.
“We can park non-emergency calls to take those 911 calls.”
People who hear a recorded message when they call 911 should not hang up.
“If the line is busy, remain on the line. Our 911 operators will get to you as quickly as possible,” Krull explained.
“All our calls are recorded, and for that very situation where your phone gets hung up on for whatever reason, we could go back and gather as much information as we could in that call.”
This spring, the province is expected to introduce new standards saying 911 calls should be answered within 15 seconds.
In Edmonton, police believe that won’t be an issue. Calls received by Edmonton police are normally answered within three seconds.
The Department of Municipal Affairs, which oversees the Alberta Emergency Management Agency, declined interview requests regarding the changes.
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