MOSES LAKE - Jackie Jones has seen the job of a 9-1-1 operator change dramatically in her 20-year career.

When she began as a 9-1-1 operator in Ephrata in 1994, there were no telephone headsets, a pen and paper were her primary tools, and a caller was placed on hold while she individually radioed the fire, EMS, and law enforcement agencies to request help.

"The only time that we used a computer was to enter in the data from our notepad at the end of the day," said Jones, who has almost finished her first year as the director of the Multi-Agency Communications Center near Moses Lake.

"Everybody had a land line then, so when we would get a call we would know exactly who was calling and where they were calling from. Now everyone calls 9-1-1 from one of these," she holds up her iPhone. "And we have to rely on the caller to know where they are calling from."

The industry is moving toward allowing callers to connect with 9-1-1 operators through text and even video messaging.

She says that technology has changed nearly everything about her job, except the most important component.

"These are my rockstars," she says as she walks onto the floor and smiles at the five 9-1-1 operators who are juggling telephone calls, three computer monitors and likely a stressed person on the other line.

"When you call 9-1-1, you are having a bad day, maybe the worst day of your life. And you rely on the person on the phone to be courteous, respectful, and most importantly to get the necessary people to your location as soon as possible," Jones said.

To help the operator, Jones tries to teach the community one thing:

"Know where you are. With the Potholes and the sand dunes and the lakes we get a lot of visitors in the summer and if they need help we need to know where to send it," she said.

She said that tracking a cellphone caller through towers and antennas can only do so much.

"If you are calling from a four-story building, we aren't going to know that you are on the third floor," she said.

She gives the same message to school kids and city council members.

"Know where you are" has become a slogan for the Multi-Agency Communication Center since Jones began nine months ago.

During her short tenure as MACC director, Jones has promoted six people within the center to mostly newly-created positions.

She is keeping her eye toward the future, and planning on a larger 9-1-1 center for Grant County within five years.

The "floor" where operators work, is full and Jones says that she could not fit one more operator into the area.

She says that she sees her job as a facilitator for the "rock stars", making sure the operators have everything they need to handle the calls appropriately.

Last year, MACC handled 57,215 calls, and she says because this is a growing area, she expects more calls in 2014.

She and her staff celebrated National Telecommunicator Week April 13-18 and Jones had daily prizes and decorations to make the operators feel special.

She said that police officers and firefighters get attention because the public sees their faces. She wants to give her operators some recognition, because most of their work is behind-the-scenes.