Residents Asked to Use Online Option for Non-Emergency Situations

Officials at the Multi-Agency Communications Center are asking people calling the non-emergency line to use the website's reporting app instead.

Director D.T. Donaldson said dispatchers answer the non-emergency line along with a long list of other tasks.

"(Dispatchers) are on the radio, talking to (law enforcement) officers, talking to fire departments, talking to ambulances on the radio and also messaging. And then they're also answering 911 calls, and they're also answering all the non-emergency public safety calls," Donaldson said. "Sometimes that's fine. But sometimes it gets really busy there, and we never know when it's going to get busy.

"You will not imagine how busy it gets out there," he added.

Donaldson emphasized that if people genuinely think the situation is an emergency, they should call 911.

"There are gray areas there — there are. If you're not sure, call 911," he said.

But not all 911 calls are actual emergencies, which complicates an already complicated job.

In addition to that, the non-emergency line ringing at the wrong time can add to already stressful situations.

"If we get 911 calls, we're going to answer those before we answer non-emergency, but those non-emergency calls still ring in there," he said. "It can be kind of a distraction when they're busy with a bunch of 911 calls and a bunch of radio traffic."

As a result, MACC administrators are urging people with non-emergency reports or questions to use the reporting function on the website, www.macc911.org.

At the top of the webpage — right above the non-emergency phone number, in fact — is a red button that allows people to make a report.

"We tried to make it very streamlined, very simple," Donaldson said.

The reporting form asks for basic information, name, and phone number, and if the person filing the report needs to be contacted by law enforcement, along with a description of the complaint.

The report form includes a speech-to-text option also.

"Just give us all the information. If it's not perfect, it's fine, if there are some typos in it, it's fine. We have professionals who are trained to read that, they'll be able to tell," Donaldson said.

People making the report should include all the information they think is relevant.

"If we need to call you back, we will. And that (call back) probably will come from an unlisted number. So if you just made a police report and you get a call, please consider it could be us calling you for more information," he said.

Most of the time a call back isn't necessary.

"We've had this in place for a little while, and we've found most people provide plenty of information (and) we don't need to call them back. People actually do a really good job of saying what they need, saying what the issue is," Donaldson said.

Using the form does not slow down the process.

"This system feeds directly into the dispatch center. So the same person who would've been answering your call and talking to you is looking at your (report) in almost real-time," he said. "So it doesn't delay the service you get by more than a minute or two at most."

Agency officials are working on a second option, one that allows people to make a verbal report that will then be transcribed.

"Basically, we're trying to train a voicebot to handle your call for you," Donaldson said. "And what it will do is speech-to-text, grab all your information, and then send it to that same platform we're using right now when you fill out the online report. So all (reports) will come into that, and we'll process them as soon as we can."

That option should be available within the next two to three months, he said.

"We really think it will allow us to focus on those 911 calls, focus on those radio calls, to help get people, in the end, better service," he said.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.

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