Atlanta’s 911 system was failing. A year later, it’s picking up the pace.

An investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last year examined data from millions of calls across metro Atlanta and found a high number of callers were left waiting for a 911 operator to answer. Many departments, including Atlanta, were not meeting the national standard set by the National Emergency Number Association, which recommends 95% of emergency calls to be answered within 20 seconds.

One year later, the AJC resurveyed seven of the core 911 metro agencies and found that while there are still significant issues, many troubled agencies made strides towards answering emergency calls faster. That review found Atlanta had improved to answering 84% of calls within 20 seconds in 2024, up from 71% the prior year.

Last month, that figure was up to 90%.

Meeting the 20-second standard consistently will require more staff, additional training, and implementing new technology, according to Lisa Henley, deputy director of operations for Atlanta E911.

Henley said adding staff has been the largest driver behind the center’s improved performance. It has hired 15 call takers so far this year, but is still not yet fully staffed and continues to recruit, she said.

“911 is a revolving door,” Henley said. “And so that’s why we are constantly hiring.”

Last year, AJC reporters interviewed dozens of people who shared their harrowing stories of waiting on hold across the metro area. They included a southwest Atlanta woman whose family had to navigate rush-hour traffic to get her to a hospital after a bullet sliced through her face, and a young boy who waited for help as he drifted in and out of consciousness after crashing his scooter in Buckhead.

In many of the cases, the callers hung up while a hold message played on repeat.

Last month, the number of callers in Atlanta who hung up before reaching a call taker fell by more than 80% compared to May 2023.

“We’re answering the calls faster, and since we’re answering the calls faster, then of course there’s no need for the call to be abandoned because they’re being answered,” said Henley.

To reduce call volume, the department has developed and promoted alternatives to calling 911.

Last year, Atlanta launched a web portal that allows residents to report nonemergency issues like abandoned vehicles and noise complaints. About 250 to 275 reports come through each week. Those requests are reviewed by a call taker, logged into the system, and forwarded to dispatch, just like a voice call would be.

Atlanta also has an option to text 911, but Henley said many people don’t know about the feature. It’s used less frequently than the web portal — fewer than 1,000 text sessions are recorded each month — but operators handle them the same way they would a voice call.

Henley said her team plans to promote both options to the public.

“It just softens the load for incoming calls into 911,” she said.

An expert in 911 systems previously told the AJC that answer times are improving across the country as agencies lean on artificial intelligence to make their 911 systems more efficient, and as they add back staff that were lost during the pandemic.

The improved answer times in the metro area also come as state lawmakers passed a multimillion-dollar overhaul of antiquated 911 systems in Georgia. Gov. Brian Kemp recently signed the bill that would provide incentives for call centers across Georgia to modernize and speed up 911 emergency systems. This could mark a turning point for areas that have failed to answer 911 calls in a timely manner.

The Atlanta E911 center was named the 2025 Team of the Year by The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials. The award will be accepted at the APCO Conference next month by a senior dispatcher who played a critical role during both the bus hijacking and the downtown active shooter incidents that occurred on the same day last year.

Our Reporting

This report is part of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s effort to examine the metro area’s 911 systems and how they respond to those in crisis. The AJC first published an investigation last year that found an alarmingly high number of callers in metro Atlanta had to wait longer than industry experts say they should for a 911 operator to answer. For the initial investigation, reporters obtained records on millions of calls in the metro area and interviewed dozens of people who shared their stories of getting placed on hold when they called 911 for help. They described feelings of fear, disbelief and a shattered trust of the emergency services system. We followed up that investigation with a report earlier this year that examined the progress some agencies made toward reaching the industry standard of answering the vast majority of calls within 20 seconds. This story is another effort to monitor and inform readers of that progress.