Understaffed 10111 call centres means thousands of emergency calls are going unanswered
Operators at 10111 call centres around the country have voiced concern surrounding severe understaffing. As a result thousands of Emergency calls went unanswered during the month of December, EWN reports.
The Port Elizabeth area is reportedly the worst affected with over 400 calls going unanswered every hour this past week. This is as a result of just 15 operators manning over 20 phone lines per shift.
According to South African Police Union’s Andre Scheepers, December saw an increase in emergency calls, leading to a higher level of missed calls and staff spending more time on the phone than usual.
While the damage has already been done, Scheepers highlighted that the same would happen in the future if the staffing issues were not addressed.
The issue has been also been exacerbated in Gauteng in recent months with operators threatening to take strike action because of an apparent lower pay compared to their Western Cape counterparts.
The situation is not likely to change anytime soon, as management has already indicated that a price increase was not currently possible.
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