Mission Critical partners helps Salt Lake Valley 911 center meet statutory requirements

Mission Critical Partners (MCP), a provider of data integration, consulting, network and cybersecurity solutions, announced the Salt Lake Valley Emergency Communications Center (SLVECC) hired the firm to assess its ability to meet the requirements of a state law that sets strict limits pertaining to the transfer of emergency calls between 911 centers.

SLVECC is Utah’s largest 911 center and provides call-taking and dispatching services for 12 law-enforcement agencies and eight fire/rescue/emergency medical departments clustered around Salt Lake County. Enacted last year, Utah Code 69-2-204 establishes that call transfers must not exceed 2% percent of a 911 center’s annual volume of emergency call, though exceptions are made for calls transferred to 988 — the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline — and entities such as animal and poison control. SLVECC fields about 264,000 calls for emergency services annually, meaning that it is limited to about 5,280 call transfers each year.

Transfers of emergency calls are not uncommon and can happen for a variety of reasons. However, they generally are avoided because they can result in delayed response and a loss of critical information gathered by telecommunicators that can enhance situational awareness and lead to better-informed response decisions. They also create additional stress on callers, which can hinder telecommunicators in gathering critical information they need to dispatch the appropriate response as quickly as possible.

MCP subject-matter experts (SMEs) are assessing numerous technological and operational factors that could affect SLVECC’s ability to comply with the statute. For example, does the center have the right number of people with the right skills to handle its call-volume? Could it benefit from implementing an artificial-intelligence solution that automatically translates calls in real time? Would a migration from its legacy systems to Next Generation 911 make sense?

Ensuring Compliance and Future Readiness

“We’re confident that we are meeting the 2 percent call-transfer mandate right now, but we want to make sure and MCP will help us do that,” said Ivan Whittaker, SLVECC’s executive director. “But more than that, we want to future-proof our ability in this regard. The Salt Lake region continues to grow tremendously, which is going to increase our call volumes over time. We want to ensure that we’re ready for that.”

The assessment will be conducted by leveraging MCP’s proprietary Model for Advancing Public Safety (MAPS) methodology, which leverages the collective expertise of the firm’s 225-plus SMEs, industry standards and best practices, and accreditation programs.

Darrin Reilly, MCP’s president and CEO, praised SLVECC not only for ensuring its ability to meet the statute’s requirements, but also for employing a forward-looking perspective in doing so. “Reducing call transfers is imperative to avoiding delays caused by repeating information and risking disconnection of the caller,” Reilly said. “Every second matters and a delay in response of any length can mean the difference between life and death. We’re grateful for the opportunity to support SLVECC in this important endeavor.”