Text from 9-1-1 Helps Dispatcher Take Action During a Domestic Incident
Customer Success Story
Text from 9-1-1 Helps Dispatcher Take Action During a Domestic Incident
Industry
Challenges Solved
Customer Details
Wayne County, NY has a population of over 93,000 people.
Solution
THE CHALLENGE
Early one morning in December 2019, Wayne County dispatcher Robert Montemorano received a call, but it got disconnected before he could collect any information.
Following the county’s protocol, Montemorano tried to call the phone number back but there was no answer. He then followed up by using the text-from-911 feature in the Rave 911 Suite to contact the caller. Rave 911 Suite is a platform that includes a text-from-911 feature so 9-1-1 telecommunicators can initiate a chat with a mobile phone caller if someone is nonverbal, becomes disconnected or has poor coverage. They can reach out to callers to verify if help is needed or the call was placed by accident.
He texted the individual to see if the caller was available for a phone call. From when the abandoned call was first received by Montemorano to when the initiated text message was sent, only 64 seconds had lapsed.
The individual later texted back she couldn’t call because her boyfriend was acting up. As Montemorano continued to text with the individual, she wrote “my boyfriend’s crazy” and “refuses to leave.” She also said her boyfriend would take her phone away if she was seen using it.
The Solution
Montemorano continued communicating with the woman, obtaining her exact location and learning her daughter was there and what else was happening. As he continued to text with her, Montemorano’s partner, Chris English, coordinated the law enforcement response and allocated resources to the scene to render it safe. In addition, Dan DeWolf, the shift supervisor, and dispatchers Jen Almekinder and Jeremy McClaflin were all on duty and working on other unrelated events. They were available to assist with the call and would be able to get up to speed, if necessary, through the technology.
“It was a great team effort,” said Gregory DeWolf, 9-1-1 operations manager at the county’s emergency communications center. “Rob did an excellent job on his piece and his partner also did an incredible job coordinating the resources as quickly and efficiently as possible.”
Rave 911 Suite’s text-from-911 feature has helped dispatchers resolve abandoned calls more quickly.
“I truly believe we wouldn’t have found this domestic violence incident if it hadn’t been for the text feature. We would have tried to call back and not received an answer. We would have had no way of making contact or finding the location to even check. So without it, who knows what would have occurred.”
GREGORY DEWOLF
9-1-1 OPERATIONS MANAGER
WAYNE COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS CENTER
The Result
“A lot of the calls we have, especially 9-1-1 hangups, we get a response from text,” said Montemorano. “They are willing to text initially before we make that contact with them.”
He also said the text-from-911 feature provides more information to first responders as they arrive on the scene.
“I can add notes to say if there are weapons, intoxication is involved, and any other details and link the whole text conversation to the job itself,” Montemorano said. “The officers can read these notes if something is in progress.”
DeWolf added this feature helps the 9-1-1 team gain more insight when someone in need calls in.
“I truly believe we wouldn’t have found this domestic violence incident if it hadn’t been for the text feature,” DeWolf said. “We would have tried to call back and not received an answer. We would have had no way of making contact or finding the location to even check. So without it, who knows what would have occurred.”
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