Colorado Springs, CO – BY  Catherine Buckley

On September 11, 2014, the Colorado Springs Public Safety Communication Center activated an automated message on the 911 telephone system.

This message states “You’ve reached Colorado Springs 911. Please don’t hand up. We are experiencing heavy call volume.  Your call will be answered by the next available emergency operator.”  The message will be play after the call has been ringing for 10 seconds.  If the call rings for another 10 seconds the message will state “Again, please stay on the line.  Disconnecting to call back could add to your wait time.”

The Colorado Springs Public Safety Communications Center is the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) for all cellular telephone calls to 911 for El Paso County in addition to all land line telephones within the city limits of Colorado Springs.

In 2013 the Colorado Springs Public Safety Communications Center processed 661,945 incoming telephone calls.  277,923 of these were 911 telephone calls.