High Point City Council approves contract to bring in more 911 operators

HIGH POINT, N.C. (WGHP) — The High Point City Council approved a contract that will bring in temporary 911 operators until the city can fill the four open positions.

The contract is with a vendor called Moetivations Inc., which is based out of Littleton, Colorado.  Moetivations will temporarily fill two positions while the city trains newly hired 911 communicators.

At the beginning of the summer, there were seven open positions at the 911 Communications Center in High Point. In August, three of those positions were filled, but four positions are still open, and those new hires can’t jump right in.

So until they have the proper training, city leaders are looking at a plan to outsource some of those duties.

I.T. Services Director for the City of High Point Adam Ward says that by using the outside vendor Meotivations to fill these roles, they can temporarily get back on track.

“So our ultimate goal as we approach the holiday season, which is going to be a busy time for High Point 911, is to ensure that we have time to focus on those telecommunicators,” Ward said.

He says the staffing shortage has not impacted the quality of the work.

“From 2023 to 2024, we’ve received 244,000 calls. That equates to about 614 calls a day,” Ward said.

However, the city has seen the effects internally.

In 2022, Ward says its retention rate dropped to 69 percent because of the toll COVID-19 restrictions took on the dispatch center.

“It’s caused some turnover. We’ve had some early retirements, and we’ve had some folks either relocate to other departments in the city or leave the organization entirely due to stress,” Ward said.

He says the contract will cost $177,000, and it will be paid for by unused salaries.

Ward is hopeful more 911 communicators can help improve response time.

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