ARLINGTON, Va. — Arlington County's 911 call center is using artificial intelligence to manage non-emergency calls, making it one of the first in the nation to adopt this technology.
The Amazon AI system directs callers with routine questions to corresponding non-emergency resources, allowing human dispatchers to focus on true emergencies, WJLA reported.
"It shortens the call time and it frees up our telecommunicators to answer 911 calls instead of spending time on non-emergency calls," said Jacob Saur, Emergency Communications Center Administrator.
Numbers from the county show non-emergency calls decreased by nearly 16,000 in the first quarter of this year compared to last year. That's about 5,200 fewer calls per month that human dispatchers need to handle.
Chris Haislmaier, a 911 call taker, appreciates how the technology helps him assist more people in crisis.
"You're never gonna hear the same phone call twice. You're always gonna be able to help someone in need," Haislmaier said.
When callers reach the non-emergency line, they hear an automated prompt: "If this is an emergency, hang up and dial 911. Please tell me the reason for your call."
The system can handle various routine inquiries, including providing information about reporting storm damage via text message.
If the AI can't resolve the caller's issue, the call is routed to human dispatchers, where emergencies still take priority.
The technology has proven especially valuable during staffing shortages at the call center.
"Like anywhere else, we sometimes suffer from vacancies in our telecommunicators. It takes us a long time to get someone fully trained," Saur said.
While the AI system continues to evolve with new features, Saur emphasizes that it cannot replace the expertise of trained professionals.
"There's a lot of things that telecommunicators are trained to listen for and do on a 911 call that is just not applicable for AI," Saur said.
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