Policy Text
KISSIMMEE POLICE DEPARTMENT
GENERAL ORDER
General Order 314 – Communications Unit Telephone Operations
Page 1 of 11 TITLE: COMMUNICATIONS UNIT TELEPHONE OPERATIONS 314
EFFECTIVE: 07/01/2015 REVISED: 10/10/2025 SCOPE : ALL EMPLOYEES
REVIEW AUTHORITY: SUPPORT SERVICES DIVISION CAPTAIN
CFA STANDARDS: 25.05M, 25.12M
314.01 Answering the Telephone 314.07 Processing 911 Non -emergency Calls
314.02 Telephone Etiquette 314.08 Transferring Calls
314.03 Collection of Information 314.09 Responding to Miscellaneous Request
314.04 Obtaining Details 314.10 Placing Outgoing Telephone Calls
314.05 Processing 911 Calls 314.11 Translation Services
314.06 Instruction Guidelines
Policy: To ensure employees provide prompt, accurate, courteous and consistent telephone service
for routine and emergency situations in accordance with the Emergency Communications 911
State Plan for Florida.
314.01 Answering the Telephone: Administrative teleph one lines shall be answered secondary
to 911 lines. 911 lines should be answered within ten (10) seconds to prevent the call from
automatically rolling over to Communications Unit’s alternate Public Safety Answering Point
(PSAP ), The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office. 911 lines shall be answered by stating; “ 911, ID #,
what is the address of your emergency? ”
Administrative lines shall be answered promptly by stat ing; “ Kissimmee Police and Fire
Department, ID #, this line is being recorded, how may I help you? ”
Employees shall determine if a caller is reporting an emergency prior to placing them on hold. At
no time shall a caller be placed on hold when the nature of the call is unknown or when the caller
is reporting an emergency. This includes those calls where employees are relinquishing the call to
another employee for the purpose of translating.
314.02 Telephone Etiquette: When obtaining information from callers, emp loyees shall:
a. Maintain a professional demeanor;
b. Use active listening;
c. Be courteous, patient, sincere, and empathetic; and
KISSIMMEE POLICE DEPARTMENT
GENERAL ORDER
General Order 314 – Communications Unit Telephone Operations
Page 2 of 11 d. Use caller’s name.
Employees shall advise a caller when they are being placed on hold. If a caller is to remain on hold
for an extended period of time, employees shall return to the caller periodically to update them
regarding the status of the call (i.e. the line is still busy, still researching, etc.).
314.03 Collection of Information: When determining the location of an incide nt, employees shall
ask the caller for the physical address at which the incident has occurred. In the event the caller is
unable to provide the physical address and can only provide the common name to their location,
employees shall ask the caller for the nearest cross street. In the event the caller is unable to provide
the physical address or nearest cross street and can only provide the common name for the location,
employees shall ask the caller to describe their surroundings (i.e. other nearby busines ses,
landmarks, etc.) .
Employees shall use any available Wireless Enhanced Phase II information to assist with locating
the caller when the caller is unable to provide the physical address, cross street, or common name
for their current location. This does not apply to those situations where the caller is not at the
location where the incident being reported has occurred.
After asking for the address of the incident, employees shall then re peat it back to the caller for
verification purposes. In the event the caller explicitly provides the address, employees shall only
need to repeat the address to the caller for verification purposes.
Once obtaining an incident location, immediately obtain and utilize the caller’s name by stating
“What is your name? ” at this point the employee shall use the caller’s name when speaking to
them.
When creating a new incident in the Computer Aided Dispatch System ( CAD ), employees shall
use the most appropriate type of addressing for the incident. Depending on the type of assistance
required or information available, employees may open events in CAD using one (1) of the
following methods:
a. Physical Address;
b. The intersection of two or more roads;
c. Block number of a valid centerline; or
d. The longitude and latitude of a location (this method should be reviewed for rural or marine
related situations in which other conventional addressing options are not available) .
If the callback telephone number is available on the Automatic Number Identification ( ANI)
display, employees shall verify the number with the caller. The suggested method of verification
is to have the caller provide the telephone number they are calling from. (i.e. What is the phone
number you are calling from? ).
KISSIMMEE POLICE DEPARTMENT
GENERAL ORDER
General Order 314 – Communications Unit Telephone Operations
Page 3 of 11 The address and callback telephone number shall be collected and verified during the beginning
of every call. Even if the address of the incident or callback telephone number was provided by
another agency during the transfer of a call, employees shall still verify the information with the
caller.
Employees shall ask callers for their name and callback telephone number even if they want to
remain anonymous. When entering the name of a caller on the main call -taker window, employees
shall enter the information using the “ Last Name, First Name ” format. In