Wait times for 9-1-1 calls in Minneapolis should drop next year with the addition of four dispatchers and new call processing software, the city’s director of emergency communications said Friday.

Heather Hunt, who earlier this year defended her department’s performance following reports of understaffing and significant delays in answering calls, said the city’s 9-1-1 system is “in a mode of continuous improvement and we still have much work to do.”

In a meeting with a City Council budget subcommittee, Hunt said the additional spending proposed in Mayor Betsy Hodges’ budget will allow the department to make a few critical upgrades.

The proposal calls for the 9-1-1 budget to grow by more than 10 percent, to $9.6 million. In addition to four new dispatchers, the budget bump includes $150,000 of general fund money for a new call processing system and another $135,000 for phone upgrades.

Hunt said those changes should help the city get closer to meeting a national standard: that calls be answered by 9-1-1 operators in 10 seconds or less at least 90 percent of the time. Right now, the department meets that standard about 85 percent of the time, though the current system the city uses to track calls doesn’t provide exact statistics.

A staffing study this year suggested that 9-1-1 should add at least six more employees to meet national standards, but Hunt said the improvements to the software and phones should make the operation more efficient – which could mean that four additional employees will be enough.

The new phone system will link Minneapolis’ 9-1-1 operations with other emergency call centers in the area, while the new software will help dispatchers filter calls more quickly by guiding them through sets of questions.

“The benefit of this software is all callers will receive a standard level of care and questions won’t fall through the cracks,” Hunt said.

The software upgrade should be in place sometime in the second half of 2015. By late next year, Hunt said, the city should be able to get a more precise idea of how close it is to meeting the national standard.

Meanwhile, a disagreement between 9-1-1 workers and the city over a new push to cross-train employees for multiple duties is headed toward arbitration. Hunt told the council she couldn’t comment further on the issue.