Contact

GlossaryDispatch and call records

Transferred call

A transferred call is passed to another answering position, center, or service. Learn what the transfer records and why it does not establish a response outcome.

A transferred call is a communication passed from its initial recipient to another answering position, center, agency, or service for handling. A transfer can be part of the normal path to the appropriate assistance. The transfer label identifies a handoff; it does not by itself show that responders were dispatched, arrived, or completed the requested service.

Why a call moves between recipients

The center answering a call may not dispatch every type of service. It may transfer fire or medical requests to another position, or pass an out-of-area request to the appropriate jurisdiction. A transfer can take place within one organization or between separate centers.

DC's Office of Unified Communications describes fire and medical calls being transferred to dispatchers within its center, while police information is forwarded by computer. These are distinct local workflows, even though both support a response. DC call-handling explanation

The identity of the first answering center is therefore not enough to establish the agency that ultimately handled the event. A communications record may need to be read alongside the destination center's record.

Example

Hypothetical example: A caller near a county boundary reports a crash. The call initially reaches County A's center. Staff establish that the crash is in County B and transfer the communication there. County B creates its own event and dispatches an ambulance.

County A's record can show the contact and transfer. County B's record can show the assignment and response. Counting both as separate crashes would be misleading, but ignoring the first contact would understate the communications work. A matching event cannot be assumed solely from similar timestamps; a documented link or corroborating details are needed.

Common confusion

A transfer is different from a referral, which may involve providing contact information without connecting the ongoing communication. It is also different from mutual aid, where another agency supplies response resources. Transferring a call does not establish that the first agency sent a unit.

An internal handoff may leave one event identifier, while a transfer between systems may produce another identifier. Neither pattern should be assumed universally.

Reading transfer measures

Identify whether the source counts transfer attempts, completed connections, or incidents involving a transfer. A receiving timestamp may begin after the caller first contacted 911. If a performance measure starts there, it omits the earlier interval unless the methodology explicitly combines records.

Next Generation 911 is designed to improve routing and information exchange, but a transfer notation alone does not establish which technology or data-sharing capability was used. National 911 Program NG911 overview

Sources