6/7/04

Holly Springs Activates 911 Call Center June 8
911 Calls Now to Go Directly to Town Dispatcher

On Tuesday, June 8, the Holly Springs will activate its own 911 call center; once activated, when Holly Springs residents inside Town limits dial 911, their calls will be answered by a Holly Springs dispatcher. In addition, the Holly Springs call center will answer emergency cell phone calls within the Town limits.

Before the local call center is activated, when Holly Springs residents dial 911, residents reach the Raleigh/Wake County call center. There, the dispatcher takes the caller’s information and then forwards the emergency information to the Holly Springs dispatcher.

“By having a local center, you’re talking to telecommunicators that are more familiar with your area and more familiar with the resources they will be sending you,” said Holly Springs Public Safety Chief Cecil Parker.

With the Holly Springs call center, emergency calls will be immediately dispatched to local police, fire and emergency medical services. In addition, Parker said, Holly Springs telecommunicators will be available to remain on the phone with callers until staff arrives on the scene.

“We want to provide a different type and a different level of service,” Parker said.

Holly Springs has operated an emergency call center for eight years with its emergency phone number, 557-9111. This number will still be available with the call center, as well, but residents should dial 911 in emergencies.

“We’re encouraging all residents inside and outside the city limits to dial 911 in an emergency,” Parker said.

In addition to the four trained telecommunicators on staff with Holly Springs Public Safety, at least two police officers who are also trained telecommunicators are available during each shift. Parker said that in the future, as call volumes warrant, the department will add an additional telecommunicator per shift.

In preparation for activating the call center, Holly Springs Public Safety tested the call center system for months. And, since September, Holly Springs Public Safety has been receiving funds from the 911 surcharge on telephone bills within Holly Springs. The surcharge goes to support the Holly Springs call center and local emergency operations; before, surcharge funds went to the Raleigh/Wake County call center.

In emergencies if the Holly Springs call center breaks down, Holly Springs Public Safety has a mobile backup call center. Additionally, the Raleigh/Wake County call center is working with Holly Springs to serve as a backup resource.

“The Raleigh/Wake County call center staff has been very instrumental in assisting Holly Springs to make this a transparent transition,” Parker said.

Holly Springs will be the second Town in Wake County to activate a local call center. Cary implemented a Town call center about 25 years ago. Since then, Cary has been voted one of the top 10 safest cities in America by the annual Morgan Quitno awards.

For non-emergency questions about the call center, contact Holly Springs Public Safety at (919) 552-7110.

Town of Holly Springs - PO Box 8 - 128 South Main Street - Holly Springs, NC 27540 - (919) 552-6221 - Holly.Springs@hollyspringsnc.us