California 911 Reimbursement

California 911 Reimbursement Plan

The state of California's 911 Program reimburses local public safety comm centers for the cost of obtaining and maintaining equipment and services to receive and process 911 calls. Their funding does not include money for staffing comm centers.

As part of the process for receiving reimbursement, the state determines how many calltaker positions it will fund using a table and a formula. Their method is based on the number of 911 calls the comm center handles (up to 1,200 calls a month), and on a formula that takes into account the peak busy hour and number of 911 calls received during that hour. The formula is based on common methods of queue handling specific to the telecommunications industry.

Note: While California's method doesn't speak directly to the optimum number of positions, consoles, calltakers or radio dispatchers you should have on-duty at any one time, it does provide some basic staffing guidance.

Here is California's reimbursement formula:

911 Calls per Month	Reimbursable 911 Positions
0 to 300	does not qualify for reimbursement
301 to 800	two positions
801 to 1,200	three positions

For comm centers that field more than 1,200 calls to 911 per month, the number of positions is determined by the formula:

E = [ ( N x 2 ) ( T + 60 seconds ) ] / 3600

E = the estimated 911 call volume plus wrap-up time during the busy hour. This figure, whose unit of measure is called an Erlang, is then plugged into a table to determine the number of reimbursable positions.

N = the number of 911 calls received during a typical busy hour. The 911 program doubles this figure in the formula, apparently as a safety margin.

T = the estimated average 911 per call time during busy hour, in seconds. The 911 program tacks on 60 seconds to this figure in the formula to account for "in-between" time.

For example:

Your busiest hour of the year was one during which you handled 50 calls on 911
You estimate that the average handling time for a 911 calls is 80 seconds

Here are those figures plugged into the formula:

E = [ ( 50 x 2 ) ( 80 seconds + 60 seconds ) ] / 3600

then

E = [ ( 100 ) ( 140 ) ] / 3600

then

E = 14,000 / 3600

then

E = 3.888

Here is an Erlang table based on the so-called "P.01" level of service, which means that it's acceptable to block (or caller would received busy signal) one out of every 100 calls. Most state 911 agencies require P.01, since requiring a higher level of service (fewer blocked calls), would mean an increased number of 911 answering positions. Of course, a "P0.0" level of service would be more acceptable (no calls are blocked), but no comm center could staff for the maximum number of calls they'd receive in a year.

Erlangs	.15	.46	.87	1.36	1.91	2.50	3.13	3.78	4.46
Positions	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10

In this case, the state would fund 10 positions, since that number of 911 calltaking positions would handle the peak number of calls the center received during the year (minus the 1% blocking factor).

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