Blog | 911 Emergency Dispatcher | 911 Emergency Dispatch

Vancouver, B.C.—Today at 8:49 a.m. E-Comm officially became the first point of contact for 9-1-1 callers in the Upper Fraser Valley. British Columbia’s largest 9-1-1 centre is now responsible for answering the frontend portion of 9-1-1 calls for the City of Chilliwack, Village of Harrison Hot Springs, Districts of Hope, Kent and Mission and Electoral areas A-H. E-Comm call-takers will then immediately transfer calls to the appropriate police, fire or ambulance agency.

“This change will be seamless for our residents and anyone with an emergency should continue to dial 9-1-1 as usual,” explained Paul Gipps, CAO of the Fraser Valley Regional District. “Our priority is ensuring communities within our region continue to receive high-quality 9-1-1 service, and we feel E-Comm is able to provide this level of service—all at a significant cost savings.”

The transition was smooth, with the first call received by E-Comm at 8:50 a.m. The call was from Chilliwack and was a request for the RCMP.

“9-1-1 is a lifeline, which is why thorough preparation was our top priority for today’s transition,” said E-Comm President and CEO David Guscott just prior to the changeover. “We’re eager and ready, to share our large team of experienced 9-1-1 staff, our technology and purpose-built facility with residents in the Upper Fraser Valley and we are proud to be their partners in public safety.”

Approximately 60,000 emergency calls placed each year from the Upper Fraser Valley are now being routed to E-Comm. Highly-trained call-takers will quickly confirm which agency the caller requires and for which location before transferring police calls to the Chilliwack RCMP, fire calls to Fraser Valley Regional Fire Dispatch and requests for ambulance to BC Emergency Health Services’ dispatch centre in Vancouver.

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E-Comm is the Primary 9-1-1 Public Safety Answer Point (PSAP) for 25 regional districts and other communities spanning from Vancouver Island to the Alberta and U.S. borders, to north of Prince George and is the largest 9-1-1 call centre in British Columbia. E-Comm also provides dispatch services to 33 police and fire departments and operates the largest multi-jurisdictional, tri-service emergency radio system in the province.

Media contact: 

E-Comm 9-1-1
Jody Robertson
604-215-4956
[email protected]

Fraser Valley Regional District
Jennifer Kinneman
604-702-5056
[email protected]

Vancouver, B.C.—To help raise awareness about the impact on emergency services, E-Comm has released a list of the top calls that shouldn’t have been placed to 9-1-1 in 2015.

“We want to remind people about what’s at risk when 9-1-1 is used as an information line or for other reasons that do not meet the test of a true emergency: A police, fire or medical situation that requires immediate action because someone’s health, safety, or property is in jeopardy or a crime is in progress,” explains Jody Robertson, E-Comm’s director of corporate communications.

Almost 3,400 9-1-1 calls flow through E-Comm every day. Robertson says while the majority of people use 9-1-1 responsibly, calls like the ones on this year’s top ten list waste valuable emergency resources by tying up 9-1-1 call-takers’ time.

This year’s top reason not to call 9-1-1? Requesting the number for a local tire dealership.

“My job is to treat every call as an emergency, no matter how illogical it may seem on the surface,” says E-Comm 9-1-1 call-taker Harrison Kwan, recipient of this year’s top nuisance call. “We are trained to ask questions in case a caller is in distress and can’t speak freely. It’s only when I’m completely satisfied that the call is not a real emergency that I can disconnect and go back to answering other 9-1-1 calls. And that takes time.”

2015 top ten reasons to not call 9-1-1:

1. Requesting the number for a local tire dealership
2. Reporting an issue with a vending machine
3. Asking for the non-emergency line
4. Because a car parked too close to theirs
5. “My son won’t put his seatbelt on”
6. Coffee shop is refusing to refill coffee
7. Asking if it’s okay to park on the street
8. “My roommate used my toothbrush”
9. Asking for help getting a basketball out of a tree
10. Reporting that their building’s air system is too loud and they can’t sleep

“We hope that our message that 9-1-1 call-takers can’t answer questions or manage non-emergency situations on 9-1-1 lifelines will encourage people to learn more about 9-1-1,” adds Robertson. “There’s lots of information on our web site—ecomm911.ca—about when to use 9-1-1 and when to use non-emergency numbers for police, fire and ambulance, along with easy access to those numbers and free education materials available for order, including learning tools for children.”

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E-Comm is the Primary 9-1-1 Public Safety Answer Point (PSAP) for 24 regional districts and other communities spanning from Vancouver Island to the Alberta and U.S. borders, to north of Prince George and is the largest 9-1-1 call centre in British Columbia. E-Comm also provides dispatch services to 33 police and fire departments and operates the largest multi-jurisdictional, tri-service emergency radio system in the province.

Media Contact:
Jody Robertson
E-Comm 9-1-1
604-215-4956
[email protected]

Available multi-media

Audio from top 9-1-1 nuisance call from 2015

Audio from second top 9-1-1 nuisance call from 2015

Vancouver, B.C.—Today at 9:15 a.m. E-Comm—British Columbia’s largest 9-1-1 Primary Public Safety Answer Point (PSAP)—became the first point of contact for 9-1-1 callers in the city of Nanaimo and the regional districts of Nanaimo and Cowichan Valley. The changeover to E-Comm will be transparent to residents of central Vancouver Island, who should dial 9-1-1 as usual.

Approximately 57,000 9-1-1 calls are made each year from the Central Island area, which will now be answered by E-Comm’s many highly-trained 9-1-1 call-takers. E-Comm staff will quickly confirm which agency the caller requires and for which location before transferring the call to local police call-takers in Courtenay, fire call-takers in Nanaimo and ambulance call-takers in Victoria.

“This is an important day for Central Island residents who are accustomed to high-quality 9-1-1 service,” said Mike Dietrich, (Acting) Director Social & Protective Services with the City of Nanaimo. “Based on E-Comm’s outstanding track record over the past 16-years operating as a PSAP, we are confident in the communication centre’s ability to continue to deliver this same level of service.”

After months of collaborative technical and operational planning, the transfer of 9-1-1 services occurred seamlessly with the first call coming into E-Comm at 9:23 a.m. The call was a request for the ambulance service.

“Public safety is always a priority and the new partnership with E-Comm will ensure our communities receive added operational and technical benefits,” explained Colin Haime, Deputy Chair of the Regional District of Nanaimo. “This includes a larger workforce to handle high call volume as well as increased security and resiliency.”

Conrad Cowan with the Cowichan Valley Regional District added that there will also be significant cost savings. “The Central Island 9-1-1 partnership chose to relocate services to E-Comm because we felt this would provide our regional districts with the most cost effective, high-quality operational and technical expertise, along with a robust infrastructure with many layers of redundancy for our residents,” said Cowan, Manager, Public Safety Division.

Part of the robust preparations surrounding this morning’s transition included multiple test calls across both regional districts. Geography familiarization was also part of the preparations with the many geographical and other special attributes of the new service area being a focus of call-taker training, along with the policies and procedures for individual agencies.

“Whenever we embark upon a new service partnership preparation is our top priority,” explained David Guscott, E-Comm President and CEO. “9-1-1 is a critical lifeline for people in need of immediate help from first responders, and we are committed to providing high-quality, responsive 9-1-1 service to our new partners and the residents of central Vancouver Island.”

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E-Comm is the Primary 9-1-1 Public Safety Answer Point (PSAP) for 24 regional districts and other communities spanning from Vancouver Island to the Alberta and U.S. borders, to north of Prince George and is the largest 9-1-1 call centre in British Columbia. E-Comm also provides dispatch services to 33 police and fire departments and operates the largest multi-jurisdictional, tri-service emergency radio system in the province.

Media contact: 

E-Comm 9-1-1
Jody Robertson
604-512-3242
[email protected]

City of Nanaimo
Philip Cooper
250-755-4532
[email protected]

Regional District of Nanaimo
Christina Gray
250-390-6554
[email protected]

Cowichan Valley Regional District
Conrad Cowan
250-746-2562
[email protected]

Nanaimo, B.C.—Commencing November 17, 2015, emergency 9-1-1 calls from Central Vancouver Island will be answered by E-Comm, the emergency communications centre located in Vancouver.  Details in this news release.

Vancouver, B.C.—E-Comm, Emergency Communications for British Columbia Incorporated, is pleased to announce its 2015-2016 board of directors. The announcement follows today’s Annual General Meeting, held at the emergency communications centre.

“2014 was a significant year for E-Comm, marking 15 years of supporting first responders and public safety in B.C.,” said David Guscott, E-Comm president and CEO. “Our services and scope have grown considerably over the years and we are confident that with the leadership of our Board of Directors, we will continue to support our mission to deliver exceptional emergency communication services that help save lives and protect property.”

E-Comm’s board is comprised of 18 directors and includes elected officials, representatives of emergency services and the provincial government, in addition to municipal staff and local community and business leaders.

2015-2016 Board of Directors:

• Jocelyn Kelley, Independent Director, Board Chair
• Penny Ballem, representing City of Vancouver
• Gary Bass, representing RCMP
• Doug Campbell, Independent Director
• Barry Forbes, Independent Director
• Mayor Jack Froese representing Township of Langley, Cities of Surrey and White Rock
• Fire Chief Len Garis, representing Township of Langley, Cities of Surrey and White Rock
• Anne Kinvig, Independent Director
• Councillor Raymond Louie, representing Metro Vancouver
• Jack McGee, representing Independent Police Boards (Port Moody, West Vancouver, Transit Police, Abbotsford, New Westminster)
• Councillor Bill McNulty, representing City of Richmond
• Clayton Pecknold, representing Ministry of Justice
• Karl Preuss, representing The Corporation of Delta / Delta Police Board
• Patrick Quealey, representing Ministry of Justice
• Bob Rolls, representing Vancouver Police Board
• Kathy Steegstra, representing BC Emergency Health Services
• Councillor Mary Trentadue, representing Port Moody, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Belcarra, New Westminster
• Mayor Richard Walton, representing District of North Vancouver, City of North Vancouver, District of West Vancouver, Village of Lions Bay

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E-Comm is the largest 9-1-1 call centre in B.C., answering approximately 1.25 million 9-1-1 calls each year for Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast and Squamish-Lillooet Regional Districts, the communities of Whistler and Squamish, and 18 regional districts within the northern, central and southern interiors and on northern Vancouver Island. E-Comm also provides dispatch services to 33 police and fire departments and operates the largest multi-jurisdictional, tri-service emergency radio system in the province.

Media contact: 
Jody Robertson
E-Comm Corporate Communications
604-215-4956
604-512-3242
[email protected]