Avon and Somerset Police: non-emergency calls answered faster
“We’ve reduced our wait times for callers and given people more options and updates at busy times"
Wait times for callers on the non-emergency 101 phone line across the Avon and Somerset force area have fallen, reflecting a national trend of improvement of just 32 seconds for someone on the other side to pick up the phone.
Head of Command and Control, Tara Bryant, said: “We’ve reduced our wait times for callers and given people more options and updates at busy times.
"We’ve made sure our automated option system works for callers and we offer a call back option if someone isn’t answered within three minutes.”
Tara explained that people don’t lose their place in the queue if they opt for a call back. Callers choosing that option usually hear back in an average of about 10 minutes.
A triage system is also in place to handle simple queries more efficiently, while more complex or time-consuming calls are passed onto one of our call handlers.
0.02 seconds or less
As a result our 101 calls in March were answered on median average in 11 seconds.
For seven of the past 12 months that average was 0.02 seconds or less.
Non-emergency call data is now published alongside other statistics on the national website police.uk.
For five months last year (April-August 2024), Avon and Somerset Police had more than 50,000 non-emergency calls each month.
There are several different ways you can contact the force:
- You can report crime, pass on information, contact your local neighbourhood team, get advice and much more through their website - http://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/
- You can also call 101, 24/7, to report a crime when there’s no risk of immediate harm, especially if it has just happened, for advice, or to speak to an individual officer
- 999 is for emergencies only – when a crime is underway or there’s a risk to life or of serious harm
Calls to both 999 and 101 are free, whether you’re ringing from a landline or a mobile phone.