The Bureau of Emergency Communications (BOEC) answers and dispatches for all of Multnomah County. BOEC maintains the drive to meet and exceed national performance standards. The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) sets the standard for public safety answering points (PSAPs). The standard states, “90% of all 911 calls shall be answered within fifteen seconds.  95% of all 911 calls should be answered within 20 seconds.” 

To answer calls more quickly, BOEC makes procedural adjustments by analyzing call answering and processing statistics. BOEC continues to make progress with a customized Operations Staff Scheduling and Performance Analysis System, which aids in efficient staffing of the bureau as well as in identifying staffing gaps. 

These percentages show the number of 911 calls answered within 20 seconds from FY 2017-18 to the most recent data in FY 2023-24.

The data reveals a spike in fast answer times in FY 2019-20, when 78% of calls were answered within 20 seconds. However, performance declined in FY 2021-22, with only 39% of calls meeting that standard. The most recent data for FY 2023-24 shows some improvement, with 48% of calls answered in 20 seconds or less.

Starting in FY 2022-23, the successes of hiring and retention, efficiencies in the training process, and the implementation of an AI system on the non-emergency line have contributed to the improvement of call answer time. Our most recent data shows that in FY 2023-24, 48 percent of calls are answered in 20 seconds or less. 

BOEC has been urgently recruiting, hiring, and training call takers and dispatchers to meet our community’s needs. This metric helps inform hiring and staffing decisions.

When an emergency such as a traffic crash occurs, the 9-1-1 center receives multiple calls. For that reason, we may have an increase in the number of seconds callers are waiting in the 9-1-1 queue. This may be one of the reasons why we have a number of caller-disconnected calls. 

The sum of incoming 9-1-1 calls answered within 20 seconds divided by the sum of all incoming 9-1-1 calls answered. 

The database used to track call processing includes the following components:

• When a call reaches the 9-1-1 center 

• When a call-taker answers a call  

There are cases where a caller disconnects before being answered. The 9-1-1 system or a call-taker will call the caller back. We call this process “abandoned callback.” Therefore, abandoned calls do not meet the "answered" processing definition set by the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) and will not be accounted for in the call-answering performance statistics. They are tracked separately.  

Visit BOEC’s website and the BOEC Director’s Report webpage for more information and data.