BILLINGS — Hundreds of calls pour into the Billings dispatch center every day, where dispatchers connect people to the help they need.
Dispatchers are being recognized nationwide this week for National Telecommunicators Week. 911 Manager Justin Jagers calls them the forgotten first responders.
Watch a 911 dispatcher talk about what she does:
"It's cool that we get to have a National Telecommunicators Week like this where we get to recognize them. 'Cause they are kind of the forgotten first responders," Jagers said Thursday.
Mikala Weidinger has spent three years answering calls at the 911 Communications Center, located at 911 N 24th Street in Billings.
It's a phrase Weidinger says daily: "911 where’s your emergency?" Weidinger said.
"It gives me a chance to help somebody every day," Weidinger said.
She builds relationships with everyone she talks to, but the connection often ends abruptly.
"Then you hang up the phone and you don't hear anything," Weidinger said.
People can also reach dispatchers without saying a single word. Texting 911 works just like texting a friend, though Weidinger notes the texts are few and far between.
"I didn't know that you could text 9-1-1 before I started working here," Weidinger said.
"You just type in 911 as the contact and you just text us and then it comes through and we respond back to you," Weidinger said. "A lot of people don't think it's real people on the other end and it's us that are in the room that are texting you back," Weidinger said.
Jagers says today's tools make their work more effective. The center features four large screens that light up the room, tracking radios, mapping call locations, and monitoring activity in real time.
"We can help better manage and be more efficient and effective in the responses that we do," Jagers said. "That's a huge upgrade."
Technology is always evolving, and the center pushes to keep up. The next big leap is NextGen 911.
"Which is all data platforms to 911," Jagers said.
"If you needed to, you could FaceTime 911 and actually face to face with an operator. We're not there yet, so I don't want people to think that we are, but that is the next phase coming within the next five to six years," Jagers said.
Outside of the communications center, Weidinger spends her typical Saturdays running around with her husband, Joe, and their children.
"Life is crazy outside of work," Weidinger said. "I feel like we're always constantly going. 3-year-old, she definitely keeps us moving," Weidinger said.
