Months of delays were resolved last week when calls placed to the Dudley police and fire departments were officially “cut over” to the South Worcester County Communications Center.

In an interview Tuesday, Dudley Police Chief Steven J. Wojnar said the first seven days of emergency dispatch from the new regional center have been a seamless transition for callers.

“Regionalization is the wave of the future for many government services and this was our chance to develop a center that will best serve our communities,” Chief Wojnar said.

It’s been nearly a year since Webster and Dudley sealed the agreement that formed the SWCCC, a regional emergency dispatch center situated in the new Webster Police Headquarters at 357 Main St., Webster.

The center, funded with more than $1.7 million in state grants, began operating for Webster in early September.

Charter Communications’ delays in completing a fiber optics connection between the two towns pushed Dudley’s cut-over date from late September to mid-October, and then to mid-November.

On Nov. 12, Dudley’s three full-time dispatchers became employees of the center, and all 911 and non-emergency calls made to the Dudley police and fire departments were cut over.

The center employs seven full-time and seven part-time dispatchers under the leadership of Director Gregory E. Lynskey, who schedules two dispatchers for each shift around the clock.

For Dudley, the increase from one to two dispatchers per shift will efficiently prioritize calls and aid response times, Chief Wojnar said. The only noticeable change for callers, he said, is a new selection of prompts when dialing the department’s non-emergency number.

Reserve officers are currently covering other services formerly provided by dispatchers in Dudley, such as greeting the public and assisting with internal operations, until the chief and town officials formulate a long-term staffing plan.

Officials from both towns began researching the possibility of regionalizing in 2009, when the state Executive Office of Public Safety began offering financial incentives.

The regional dispatch center was designed into construction plans for the new police station.

In September 2013, the state public safety office and the state 911 Department announced the center would receive a $1,038,485 development grant in fiscal 2014 and a $664,553 grant in fiscal 2015.

The center operates with a governing board of directors comprising officials from each town. An operations board of the towns’ police and fire chiefs sets the standards, and Mr. Lynskey oversees daily operations.

The annual operating costs of about $650,000 the first year are to be proportionally shared by Webster and Dudley.

With room for expansion and the goal to decrease operating costs by adding more towns, an invitation to join the center has been extended to Charlton, Oxford and Southbridge.

Charlton selectmen declined the invitation in October.

Kristin Munger had been a Dudley dispatcher for 12 years when she became one of the three full-time Dudley dispatchers who gained employment with the new regional dispatch center.