However, a typical day for her and her colleagues mostly revolves around high volumes of prank calls made by residents, children and adults alike.

The Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), which manages the service that was launched by the Jakarta administration in 2016, has disclosed that almost 70 percent of the nearly 6,000 incoming calls per day are fake reports and disruptive calls.

Dede receives prank calls almost everyday, she said, noting that the most common fake reports were false alarms about fires.

She said fire department personnel had often reached reported locations only to find no fire at all. Also, she added, requests for ambulances to go to unclear locations were often called into her office.

Because of the daily fake reports, the operators had saved a list of numbers that regularly abused the line.

“We mainly get fake reports regarding those two [types of] incidents, but now we have a good system to confirm a report by contacting our personnel near the location. We immediately cancel a report when we are sure that it is fake,” Dede told The Jakarta Post, pointing to a map on her computer that could track officers in the field.

The operators’ computers also recorded thousands of reports from residents daily.

Another operator, Dini Ratnasiwi, showed a list indicating that more than half of the reports she got every day were from residents who were only doing voice tests.

“They call us only to test their new mobile phones because our line is free,” Dini said.

She also cited examples of some regular callers who often yelled into the phone without any reason. They usually shouted harsh words at the operators even before they could speak. However, hanging up is not an option.

“We still have to answer them even though we know the calls are from the same people again. I think the rigors of our responsibilities require people who are capable of multitasking and are calm under pressure,” Dini said.

The head of the agency’s Disaster Data and Information Center, Helma Dahlia, said it had even resorted to asking the owners of mobile phone stores in the city to tell their customers not to contact the emergency line to test their phones.

“We did it last year and so far it has been decreasing,” Helma said.

The agency had also visited some schools to inform the young students not to play with the emergency line and to raise awareness that the line is for serious emergencies. The operators often get calls from children who were stuck while doing their homework, she said.

“It’s an urgent situation for them, but we still have to let them know that the line is not for play,” Helma added.

If not properly managed, the prank and disruptive calls could hamper the operators from assisting those who genuinely need help since the agency only has few personnel for the emergency line, she said.

There are a total of 33 operators assigned for emergency services at the agency who work in three shifts every day. With the existing resources, the agency still has to leave 5 to 10 percent of calls unanswered.

Despite the high number of prank calls, Helma said, the operators still answer all incoming calls. For them it is better to get all the information instead of nothing at all and possibly miss a real incident.

“It would be more dangerous if we ignored the calls,” she said. “We hope the residents will stop abusing the emergency line.”(ggq)

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