Call-answering time

Call-answering time is the interval between a defined call-arrival event and the point when a call-taker answers. It describes one stage of reaching emergency services. It does not include every later step needed to assess the request, assign responders, and reach the scene.

The beginning of the clock matters

A measurement should identify when the call enters its clock: arrival at a communications center, presentation to a call-taking system, or another documented event. That starting point may differ from when the caller first pressed the phone's call button.

Cincinnati's Emergency Communications Center describes its answering measure as the caller's wait to reach a call-taker. It also explains how its telephone system affects interpretation of the measure, illustrating why local documentation matters. Cincinnati performance definitions.

Example

Hypothetical: A call reaches a center's measured incoming queue at 10:00:00 and is answered at 10:00:12. Under that definition, its answering time is 12 seconds. Dispatch occurs later, at 10:01:20.

The 12-second figure says nothing by itself about how long a responding unit took to arrive. It also does not describe any unmeasured routing before the call reached this center. The published measure should name its actual endpoints rather than implying that it covers the caller's entire experience.

Common confusion

Answering time differs from call-processing time, which concerns later handling of the request under the chosen definition. It also differs from total response time and from the duration of the caller's conversation.

A mean answering time is not a statement that every caller waited that long. A percentage answered within a target is a different measure, and it requires a stated threshold and denominator. Both can be useful when their labels are clear.

Reading a performance report

Check whether the figures cover emergency calls, nonemergency calls, transferred calls, or a combination. Look for the treatment of abandoned calls and missing timing data. A measure based only on answered calls cannot automatically describe all attempted calls.

Compare the same call types and measurement rules across periods. A change in routing or the start of the clock can change the result without an equivalent change in the underlying service. Include call volume alongside the timing measure so readers can understand the scale of activity being summarized.

Related terms

• Call-processing time
• Queue time
• Public safety answering point
• Response time

Sources

• City of Cincinnati Emergency Communications Center: Performance & Data — Defines the local answering measure and describes telephone-system context; local targets are not presented as universal standards.