COVID-19 Could Change Views Toward Remote 911 Operators

“We realized the need to spread our people out and not have them all in one place,” said Doug Campbell, deputy director at Alexandria’s Department of Emergency and Customer Communications. If a COVID-19 infection shut it down, the PSAP would be able to go 100 percent remote, with operators connected by FirstNet, he said.

Some Alexandria 911 operators started working remotely in early March; about half work from home during each shift, Campbell said. With productivity up and sick leave down, the center plans to continue the policy post-emergency, he said. “One of the reasons we want to go full time with this is because if there is an incident, and we need to call people in, but they can’t make it in,” they can log in from home “and bam, we have four, five, six or seven extra call takers.”

NENA would welcome a remote-working conversation after the pandemic, said CEO Brian Fontes, applauding Alexandria “for having the technical ability to do this and having leadership that recognizes the importance and value of being able to allow their 911 professionals to work from home.” Fontes heard of some others doing the same, he said. For many others, having all workers in their building is “familiar” and “comfortable,” plus remote working has different requirements, he said.

Letting some work remotely could reduce the impact of an outbreak, and could especially help workers in vulnerable populations, Fontes said. After COVID-19, remote working could help with hiring and retention that has been a challenge, he said. Next-generation 911 isn’t required to let call takers work remotely but would facilitate a virtual center, he said.

Staff Benefits

Working from one's residence rather than the office can help improve staff satisfaction.

Working from afar could boost morale, reduce sick time and provide flexibility during snowstorms or other situations that might prevent commuting, said NASNA Executive Director Harriet Rennie-Brown, who spoke to Alexandria about the policy. NASNA plans to explore remote working at a meeting this summer, because its members “would like to learn a little bit more about the how, the why and the logistics of what they’re doing,” she said. Rennie-Brown has technical questions about privacy, security and reliability, including what happens if there’s a power outage at home, and operational ones including how to schedule shifts, she said. PSAPs might need to review state laws to ensure no restrictions, said the former Michigan 911 administrator.

“We’re certainly interested in any technology that makes the workforce safer,” said Service Employees International Union Local 668 Chief Shop Steward Chuck Kuntz, a shift commander at Allegheny County 911 in Moon Township, Pennsylvania. He started his career 40 years ago as a dispatcher in Pittsburgh. “It’s sometimes hard to teach an old dog new tricks," he said. "But I’ve seen a lot of those tricks work over the years.”

Working from home “may make retention a bit easier for us,” said Kuntz. “It’s a stressful job ... that separates you from your families on holidays.” Kuntz had questions, including if Alexandria’s policy could be easily translated to his county center that covers 130 municipalities. It could be more challenging for operators to consult each other during a call, and for Kuntz to supervise employees, he said.

The main prerequisite to remote working is “thinking outside the box,” said Campbell, who said he has heard about “very few” other centers doing remote call-taking. “You can always test it, and if it doesn’t work, you haven’t lost anything.”

Alexandria wouldn’t allow remote working if it weren't reliable, Campbell said. “We can’t afford to drop 911 calls.” The agency first tested nonemergency calls. An early test at a hotel failed because Wi-Fi wasn’t dependable; the PSAP found it more effective to use FirstNet hot spots, he said. It didn’t require NG-911, but some call center functions can’t currently be replicated at home, he said. Call centers have backup power generators unlike most homes, though the department could give users uninterruptible power supply devices, he said. If a call to a remote operator failed, it would be rerouted to the main facility, he noted. It might be challenging to provide remote technical support to a call taker’s home, but that hasn’t come up yet, he said.

Health Concerns

“It’s a difficult time,” said Kuntz, the 911 shift commander in Allegheny County. Atop Americans' general apprehension, his profession is dealing with “the callers, the citizens that are being infected, which just kind of adds to our tension,” he said.

The center’s top officials “have left the building,” weekly visiting call takers who aren't allowed to work elsewhere during the pandemic, said Kuntz. “We’ve probably increased staffing a little bit.” The building is closed to people not employed there, but there are still 911 trainings “that make it even tighter in there,” he said. “We’re sitting on top of each other.” Workers suggested using a backup center to spread out staff, but it hasn’t happened, he said.

The Allegheny 911 center has been “slow to protect us,” said Kuntz: workers suggest ways to increase safety and “run into a brick wall.” The center somewhat increased cleaning, and checks employees’ temperatures daily before they enter, but leadership denied a request for plexiglass partitions and doesn’t require masks, the SEIU representative said. “It becomes a macho-type thing.” Kuntz wears a mask, but the “vast majority of my employees do not,” he said. “I’m an older guy, I have some things that would make me more susceptible.”

Allegheny County Emergency Services Chief Matthew Brown defended the center’s practices in a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article. The chief didn’t comment Friday.

Leadership said no employees tested positive for COVID-19, but workers are occasionally quarantined as a precaution without notice to the rest of the staff, said Kuntz: “I, as a supervisor, see that they disappear from the schedule, and it’s not hard for me to figure out what’s going on.”

Editor's note: This article is part of an ongoing series about how the novel coronavirus is affecting telecom stakeholders including 911 operators and consumers. It includes four articles so far on 911: 2004270046; 2004130032; 2003180033, with the most recent published last month. It's here, in front of our pay wall (along with some other virus coverage).