Stamford's 911 center is getting more people to answer the call.

The additional staff comes at a time when emergency response has become more critical than ever. Stamford's Emergency Communications Center gets 150,000 calls a year for fire, police and emergency medical services.

The 911 center is the eyes and ears for all of the city's 135,000 residents with cameras watching every square mile of the state's second largest city.

Stamford Mayor Caroline Simmons says the center has been efficient but she wants to do even better.

"Ninety-four percent of our calls are answered within 10 seconds, which is one of the best records in the state. But we want to make sure we're continuing to enhance and improve our response times and making sure we've got the trained personnel and work force to meet the needs of our growing city," said Simmons.

The city is bringing in five civilian supervisors as well as trained state certified telecommunicators to deliver top notch public safety services. Stamford is one of the last cities in the state to civilianize its Emergency Communications Center.

"We're asking our telecommunicators to do a lot more, so I think we have to provide the support to them to make sure that they're successful in what we're asking them to do," said Stamford Director of Public Safety Lou DeRubeis.

The telecommunicators will be able to assess each call to see what level of response is required.

"Our job is to make sure that we get the right people to the right place as quickly as possible," said Stamford ECC Director Joe Gaudett.

The 911 center hopes to be fully staffed by the Spring.