How PSAPs Can Comply With NENA’s 911 Standards

The National Emergency Number Association, or NENA, sets strict criteria in multiple areas of the emergency response process. Its standards are the gold standard of compliance in the industry, and following them will ensure that you’re ready to meet any emergency like a pro. After all, 911 dispatchers save lives every day, and the more […]

Fraudulent Calls and Hanging Up: PSAPs in the News

Public safety access points (PSAPs) like yours are the first line of defense for Americans during some of the worst times of their lives. You’re expected to be there, 24/7, no matter how difficult the call or how hard the day. There’s no understating the importance of what you do: neglecting a call can mean […]

17 Things You Need to Know about Emergency Dispatchers

They’re the first people we call in an emergency-- our lifeline between disaster and the help we need. Emergency dispatchers are a crucial part of public safety for a myriad of reasons. They patiently talk our parents and grandparents through the tense and sometimes painful moments after a fall until help arrives. They tell police […]

Public Safety Tips for Cycling in the Summer

The other day, I ran into a friend on the bicycle trail near my neighborhood. We both espoused how happy we were to be enjoying the summer weather, exercising, and saving a little bit of gas money by riding our bikes. “Why doesn’t everyone do this?” I said, intending it to be a rhetorical question. […]

5 Easy, High-Impact Ways to Improve Your Contact Center Culture

Contact centers are known for occasionally being tough environments to work in, but as a manager, you have the power to change that and make your agents love coming to work. Any workplace can benefit from a strong, positive company culture, especially those that are based on human relationships, like contact centers. Here are five tips that can transform […]

Are You a Contact Center Manager or a Leader?

Here at KOVA, we’re always trying to make contact centers better for the customers, the workers, and the shareholders. We believe that management has one of the greatest influences on all metrics of success, and there are a few key ways to improve the contact center environment. One of those ways is for each supervisor […]

5 Ways to Amp Contact Center FCR

One man’s jargon is another man’s key to unlocking success in his vocation, and though “FCR” may seem impossible to differentiate to some from the many other arcane acronyms that populate industry shop talk, to many contact center managers and supervisors, its importance can’t be understated. FCR, or first call resolution, is, as its full […]

Texting and Contact Center Customer Support

The average American exchanges a whopping 914 texts a month. That comes to around 30 texts a day, and the figure is doubled for those between the ages of 18-24. While some of these texts are definitely lovers exchanging xoxos and friends trading stories and jokes, many are working out scheduling conflicts or troubleshooting arrangements […]

Challenges for Rural 911 and EMS Communication Hubs

As anyone who has ever driven to meet a friend that lives on a farm knows, there are often special directions needed, vast distances to cover, and some stretches with no Starbucks, reception, or population. One gets a similar picture when imagining the challenges of responding effectively to 911 emergencies in rural areas. Rural (and […]

Hiring Veterans as Contact Center Agents

In our country, we tend to have a double standard, or somewhat bipolar attitude, when it comes to veterans. On one hand, we acknowledge them as heroes and honor their courage, hard work, and sacrifice. On the other hand, we neglect to meet their needs – whether they be those of counseling and support groups […]