It's National Public Safety Telecommunications Week, and officials in Melbourne want everyone to know the important job their dispatchers do to help keep people safe as the first point of contact for help.

At the Melbourne Police Department's Communications Center, the phone lines are constantly busy for the 27 dispatchers who work seven at a time in 12-hour shifts.

In 2013, dispatchers in Melbourne took more than 1 million administrative calls. They also fielded more than 100,000 calls for police or fire service. That includes more than 70,000 calls to 911.

With that volume, it takes a special person to handle the job.

"To handle a negative issue 300 or 500 times in a day -- it creates a lot of stress for these call takers," said Ray Desmarais, communications manager.

The Melbourne City Council signed a proclamation in honor of this special week recognizing these communication workers. In the meantime, the city is looking to fill six positions.

Anyone interested can get more information here.