Dispatchers shuffle their areas so that one is dedicated to the hot call.
The other operators watch out for calls in the same area to alert the officers. This call got through. Couple this with bogus audible alarm calls, low staffing, inaccurate or incomplete information from telephone companies, and untraceable cellular calls, and it s a wonder your call goes through at all. From the time children can walk, teachers and parents teach them to dial 911 in an emergency, but the term emergency means different things to different people. To some, it means getting a phone number, reporting a stolen or abandoned car or even using the 911 line to ask for the non-emergency number.