The calls keep coming in to the Lincoln-Lancaster County Dispatch Center even though staffing levels haven't increased to keep up.

Dispatchers say the job has slowly evolved and improved with the advancement of technology, but technology has also made the job more difficult. According to the Lincoln-Lancaster County 911 Center, they processed about 360,000 emergency and non-emergency calls last year.

Louann Hamilton has been a dispatcher for more than 30 years.

"The technology didn't catch up with us until the middle of the '90s," she said. "Before we did everything by hand and on cards and on a conveyor belt."

The room is filled with the latest in dispatch technology, but that's not the only change the call center has experienced.

"Our call volume has gone up steadily for the last few years. We don't have actual statistics from long years, but we do know that it's climbing," said Julie Righter, 911 center communications manager.

Righter said the common use of another type of technology is partly to blame.

"Everyone has a cell phone, and now we get ten calls where we use to get one," she said. In fact, now 60 percent of their calls come from cell phones.

Making the job even more difficult, they're down three people -- two positions still have to be filled and another position was cut from their budget.

"We're at minimum staffing quite often and so overtime is an issue and staying within the city budget and trying to provide the best service that we can," Righter said.

For Hamilton, knowing that she makes a difference keeps her coming back.

"I like the pace, I like the excitement of catching bad guys and maybe saving a life on the phone," she said.

The Lancaster County dispatch is hiring for two positions. They are accepting applications until Friday. Officials say the application process does eventually involve a testing process.