The Dos and Don’ts of Calling 9-1-1

While 911 is a nationwide phone number, the policies governing its use vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Some towns allow citizens to call 911 for any incident requiring police, fire, or medical assistance, while others restrict its use to true emergencies. But regardless of the policies in place, there are certain dos and don’ts that […]

How 911 Dispatchers Can Lessen Victim Trauma

It’s a fact that’s often overlooked, but it’s true nonetheless. A victim’s very first point of contact in an emergency is not the policeman, not the EMT in the ambulance, and not the firefighter. The first person they tell about their emergency, and the first person they receive help from is the 911 dispatcher. Any […]

Social Media and Public Safety

Could the public ever contact 911 for help via Twitter or Facebook? Though public safety answering points are far from implementing that service now, it’s actually something that’s being mulled over by key figures in the industry. Social media is already being tapped for a variety of public safety uses but there are major challenges […]

5 Steps that Will Save you from Holiday Emergencies

As anyone who works at a public safety answering point knows, holidays are always a time of increased emergencies. Emergency call centers are on high alert when the weather takes a turn for the worst, people are traveling, alcohol is being served at parties, heaters are in use 24/7, and holiday decorations are up. Put […]

Legislation to Promotes U.S. Contact Centers

A bipartisan team of Washington lawmakers recently unveiled a bill meant to penalize organizations that outsource U.S. contact center jobs to other countries, called the “U.S. Call Center and Worker Protection Act of 2013” (S. 1565/H.R. 2909). Supported by Senators Robert Casey (D-PA) and Tim Johnson (D-SD), and House of Representatives Democrats Tim Bishop (NY-1), […]

How to Manage Stress at a 911 Call Center?

Working in a 911 call center is, by its nature, a very high-stress job. Carrying the responsibility for other people’s safety and well-being on your shoulders is not an easy burden to bear. And being involved with traumatic emergency after traumatic emergency can definitely take its toll, on both an agent’s physical and mental health. […]

NENA Releases Guide to Handling Text-to-911 in the PSAP

As the call for PSAPs to accept 911 texts becomes more and more widespread, it appears inevitable that emergency call centers will soon have to deal with this additional method of communication. In order to prepare PSAPs for this likelihood, the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) has released a guide to handling texts to 911, […]

Tips to Combat the Security Risks for Contact Center

The SANS Institute recently conducted a study of contact centers’ level of preparedness to handle social engineering-based attacks, in which a criminal posing as a customer tricks a CSR into revealing private account information. While progress has been made in the areas of employee awareness and even training, most contact centers still do not feel […]

Emergency Texting Services

In an emergency situation, it’s important for people to be able to contact an emergency communications center as quickly as possible. Remember the days when the fastest way to get help on the road was to find a pay phone? Or the scary movies where cutting a landline was all it took to make calling […]

KOVA Recently Awarded GSA Contract with the Federal Government

We here at KOVA are excited to announce that we have just been awarded a General Services Administration (GSA) Schedule Contract with the federal government! In case you were wondering, the GSA is the centralized authority for the acquisition and management of federal government resources. GSA Schedule Contracts assist federal employees in purchasing products and […]

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