PANJIM: The launch of the ambitious helpline 112 – equivalent to United States’ 911 all-in-one emergency services – has been a challenge for the Goa Police considering that missed, accidental or unintentional calls are much higher than genuine calls. The department claims that barely 2-3 % calls are genuine from close to 6453 ‘Total Landed Calls. “There have been at least 98 % unintended calls. Actual genuine calls comprise of around 2-3 %,”said Superintendent of Police (SP) Pankaj Kumar Singh.
Reacting to the whopping number of unwanted calls, Kumar conceded the problem exists in other States too where the emergency services is in operation. However, he explained that Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system addresses the issue. The technology has automated telephonic system interacting with the caller to route the call to appropriate recipient via keypad selection.
The ERSS Online Monitoring, installed at the control room, indicated that out of 6453 calls attended till the morning hours of October 9, 114 were ‘routed calls,’ 6339 ‘drops,’ and ‘6183 ‘IVR drops.’ On Wednesday morning, the control room received 95 calls of which 19 were missed calls
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, added that the helpline is connected with police and fire-related help while medical emergency services will soon be linked. “Separate helpline numbers created confusion also in terms of providing support system to any distressed caller. Dial 112 as direct connect with the emergency services under one roof. Nearest of nearest services would be provided to a caller in need of emergency service,” Sawant said after taking a review on the functioning of the ERSS in the presence of Director General of Police (DGP) Pranab Nanda, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Jaspal Singh, SPs and other officers.
He added that the control room will be operating on lines with any call centre equipped with latest technology and working rounding the clock. Two centres in Panjim and Margao have been established as a part of this new integrated service.
The ERSS single emergency helpline number would replace the existing emergency services numbers – 100 (Police) 101(Fire) and 108 (Ambulance Services) in phased manner.
Two years ago when the helpline was introduced, the Goa Police were forced to increase their phone lines from 7 to 30 in view of increasing number of accidental and unintentional calls.
