The Survey was fielded throughout February 2024. 1,335 responses centers responded, compared to 850 responses in 2023–a 36% increase.
This year’s report shines a more intense spotlight on active personnel's significant challenges, viewpoints, and goals within the emergency communication field. It includes a diverse range of experiences and opinions across the industry, from telecommunicators, dispatchers, IT, management, and leadership.
Key Insights:
- 87% of respondents stated that they love or like their job. However, nearly one in three staffers feel stressed about coming to work each day, and almost a quarter acknowledge that the job has adversely affected their marital status.
- 99.2% respondents reported that their centers take calls from both administrative (10-digit or 3-1-1) and emergency (9-1-1) lines, and between 60% and 75% of their total call volume comes from administrative calls.
- Staffing challenges continue to grow, from difficulties in hiring new personnel to problems with employee retention and an aging workforce that shows clear signs of stress and burnout.
- 44% of respondents ranked the high volume of non-emergency calls as the first or second biggest telephony issue. Many respondents feel that technology such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) could help relieve some of the burden, allowing them to focus on the emergency calls that need a human response.
Training:
- 70% of trainees are women.
- A huge amount of time and resources are invested in training, but approximately 50% of trainees fail the training.
- Despite significant investment in training, only 37.5% feel adequately trained to respond to most crises.
Technology:
- Outdated technology continues to be an issue throughout ECCs nationwide.
- More than three-quarters of centers experienced outages, and nearly 60% experienced a CAD outage specifically.
- 72.5% of respondents reported access to accurate geolocation services, a positive increase from less than half of respondents last year.
- Less than 5% of ECCs have call triage capabilities, a solution that can help relieve the burden of call surges, misdials, and non-emergency calls.
- Only 24% of ECCs have incident imaging, such as live video. Those using incident imagery (64% vs 48%) believe it can reduce stress. They are also more likely to believe in the value it represents.
- Despite their general adoption by the public, less than 27% can use WhatsApp or other instant text messaging services.
Wellnes/Mental Health
- 85% of respondents report that they experience one or more symptoms of burnout.
- More than 95% of employers provide some form of mental health support, up from 90% in 2023.
- 44% of employees use mental health services, up from 34% last year.
To access the report, click here.