Beyond the Call - Exploring the Role of Telecommunicators
9-1-1 Telecommunicators must be the calm amidst the chaos. National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week is a great time to say thank you.
The job of 9-1-1 Telecommunicators in Caswell County involves a lot more than simply answering the phone when someone dials 9-1-1.
Most often, that 9-1-1 call is just the beginning. Long after they first answer that call and help has arrived, Caswell Telecommunicators are often still hard at work, dispatching fire, EMS, and law enforcement resources, and making sure that those on scene are able to effectively communicate across agencies. They are the ones calling medical air transport, utility companies, and other outside resources but they are also logging the arrival and departure of personnel and equipment dispatched to the scene.
Additional 9-1-1 calls do not stop just because telecommunicators are already dispatching for another incident. Someone must answer that phone.
It can get very busy, very quickly which is why each console has six monitors connected to three computers. It can be difficult to sit for a full 12-hour shift, so the consoles raise, allowing staff to stand at their workstations.
In 2025, Caswell County 9-1-1 processed 23,040 calls for service that were entered into the CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch) system.
