PIERRE, S.D.(DRGNews)- Smartphones and technology have made a lot of things easier for us to do, such as ordering food delivery, checking the weather or making a bank deposit. But, not all of the easy things to do are helpful– including being able to easily, accidentally call 9-1-1.

Cindy Gross is the 911 Manager of the Central South Dakota Communications dispatch center in Pierre. She says a recent cellular phone update is at least part of the reason for the recent spike in accidental calls.

If you do accidentally call 911, Gross says do not hang up!

And if you do hang up be, Gross says you’ll be getting a call back, so be sure to answer it.

Gross says in January, they received 585 911 calls with about 177 misdials for an average 5.7 day. She says last month (June 2023) wass averaging over 17 misdials per day.

Along with the 911 calls for the five counties, the Central South Dakota Communications Center handles calls for state and federal agencies such as the Highway Patrol, the Division of Criminal Investigation, Game Fish and Parks, the Department of Transportation, the FBI and the US Marshal Service.