Article Highlights
- The problem: Manual citizen communications
- The solution: PowerEngage, a 911 center software system
- The benefits: Keep citizens informed, save time, and improve community engagement
The problem: Manually informing citizens
No one wants to feel disconnected in an emergency, which is why effective communication between citizens and emergency telecommunicators is of vital importance. But after an emergency call has been dispatched, ECC staff don’t have time to manually contact an emergency caller with updates as they juggle new incoming calls.
While emergency communications center staff need to inform citizens about the status of emergency response, they lack an efficient and reliable way to do so. Manual callbacks require excessive effort and staffing which your agency simply doesn’t have the resources to provide. This is true whether you’re short-staffed or not, since telecommunicators must multi-task by the very nature of their jobs.
Unfortunately, this reality is directly at odds with citizen expectations. In today’s technologically-connected world, individuals expect fast service response times and proactive communication. This is particularly true given the dire nature of emergencies. When agencies are incapable of providing information about service expectations, pre-arrival instructions, and response delays, callers may become frantic or frustrated. Over time, this can result in a negative reputation and decreased trust between your agency, first responders, and the community.
The solution: Community engagement software
PowerDMS’s emergency call center software, PowerEngage, improves your 911 and emergency services communications by automating citizen communications and eliminating the need for manual callbacks. This system sends automated texts that provide critical 911 telecommunicator information to citizens without requiring any additional staff time. More specifically, dispatch text messages are sent immediately after a citizen makes an emergency call and includes regular updates about:
- Pre-arrival information
- Response delays
- Case updates
- Investigation status
- Case number assignment
PowerEngage also creates a way for citizens to share feedback. After emergency personnel respond to the scene and resolve a case, an automated text survey is sent to callers, victims, witnesses, or any other relevant parties based on CAD and RMS data. Individuals who respond to the citizen satisfaction survey have the opportunity to say “thank you” to first responders and provide valuable feedback that can improve future responses.
You can use this citizen feedback to quantify community sentiment about your agency with a Citizen Positive Satisfaction Score (CPSS). By tracking this score, your agency can better understand satisfaction trends over time (which average between 85.15% and 98.91% for agencies that use PowerEngage). PowerDMS’s community engagement software also comes with a free press kit, including social media templates, so your agency can efficiently prepare media announcements and facilitate effective communications online.
The benefits of 9-1-1 center software
PowerEngage keeps citizens informed and updated throughout an emergency so that they feel valued, heard, and cared about on what may be one of the worst days of their life. The automated nature of this community engagement software also means your agency can communicate directly with citizens without relying on any manual processes, saving time for other pressing work.
Because citizens are informed at every step of the process, first responders can quickly respond to the emergency at hand, rather than wasting precious time navigating tense interactions with frustrated callers. And communication doesn’t stop after a case is closed. PowerEngage’s automated surveys receive an impressive 50% response rate (5x time the average). All these benefits build trust and enable your agency to provide the best public safety services possible.
Learn more
Schedule a demo today to learn how PowerDMS’s 911 call center software, PowerEngage, can help improve 911 and emergency services communications with citizens throughout the entire emergency response process.