Incoming Calls Diverted to Voicemail

Olean (NY) officials installed an automated answering system so the town can save about $80,000 by staffing just a single dispatcher on-duty instead of two. However, less than three hours later, they discovered that if the dispatcher was busy with one call, subsequent calls were diverted to a voicemail system which no one could access. All 7-digit police and fire calls are routed through the automated system, officials said, so the solo dispatcher can focus on handling priority incidents. The system has an immediate opt-out for callers: pressing “1” transfers the call directly to the county comm center for handling, where 911 calls are already being handled. Read more about the debate over the change here.