‘Butt Dials’ Vex 911 Call Centers; Should New Mexico Pay Its State Lawmakers?
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Also: Innkeepers in Connecticut worry about their lack of broadband.
Here’s some of what we’ve been reading today ...
SAN FRANCISCO, California: Ever wondered what happens when somebody accidentally dials 911? A 911 operator will normally follow up to ensure there isn’t a real emergency. In San Francisco, so-called accidental "butt dials"—they're often called "pocket dials" in 911 call centers—have increased the number of 911 calls handled by operators by 28 percent between 2011 and 2014.
According to the BBC:
Each one requires further attention—after all, the 911 handler doesn't know if it was a mistake, or someone trying to call for help but unable to talk at that point.
And so, all butt-dials are followed up. In the sample period, it took an average of one minute and 14 seconds to get back to people and determine the call was a mistake.
In a survey of handlers at the San Francisco 911 centre, 80% said chasing these calls back was a time-consuming part of their already overstretched day.
Thirty-nine percent of 911 operators in San Francisco reported that butt dials constituted the single biggest “pain point” they had to deal with, according to a Google study on the increase in the city’s 911 call volume. [BBC]
FARMINGTON, New Mexico: Unlike their colleagues in the rest of the 49 states, legislators in the Land of Enchantment are not paid (though they do get a per diem). Although New Mexico has a part-time legislature, should the lack of payment for a lawmaker's public service change? In a commentary for NMPolitics.net, Claudia Anderson thinks it’s time for the state to rethink compensation for state lawmakers considering that the part-time position often amounts to more than part-time work:
One legislator I contacted, Bill McCamley, D-Las Cruces, told me, “It depends on the week. but since I am on four interim committees, in most weeks it is 30 hours minimum, sometimes more.”
That’s 75 percent of his work week. Ask yourself this: Would you take on a second 3/4 of a job for no pay?
That’s a good question. [NMPolitics.net]
HARTFORD, Connecticut: Staying in a bed and breakfast should be about disconnecting from the digital world and enjoying a quaint retreat. But innkeepers in the Litchfield Hills in northwest Connecticut feel they’re at a disadvantage because their digital-craving guests don’t have access to broadband Internet. "We're not going under, but it's increasingly painful," Klaus Knuth, an innkeeper at the Blackberry River Inn in Norfolk, tells The Associated Press. A representative for Comcast says that that it’s economically difficult to extend its network into some low-density areas. [The Associated Press via Hartford Courant]
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah: State and local agencies in the Beehive State are looking at unmanned drone aircraft for assistance in search and rescue operations. As The Salt Lake Tribune reports, heavy cloud cover can “sometimes make it unsafe for the sheriff's office helicopter or fixed-wing planes to fly around a mountain, but a drone can go up there without that kind of risk.” The Utah County Sheriff’s Department is looking at purchasing a drone aircraft. [Salt Lake Tribune]
Michael Grass is Executive Editor of Government Executive's Route Fifty.
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