A central New York county is taking advantage of artificial intelligence as part of a recent upgrade of its 911 operations.
Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente said the county this week launched two new public safety technology platforms in its 911 Dispatch Center. The county has contracted with Prepared, which is a public safety technology company, to make the handling of calls to dispatchers more efficient.
This technology uses AI to help handle non-emergency calls. Often, that involves calls made by residents to individual police or fire departments, which don’t always involve actual emergencies, for instance, someone looking for information about how to answer a traffic ticket.
“And rather than a 911 operator having to deal with that, which they shouldn't, because we try to deal with emergencies, this AI system just deals with it and gathers the information and directs them in the right place,” Picente said.
Picente said that even with calls made to individual police and fire departments, the AI system will detect words that will immediately forward the call to a 911 dispatcher.
“We tested it in our office using some keywords, like ‘fire’ or ‘gun’ (and) at that point the conversation is stopped and we are transferring you over to 911.”
Picente added that this is not a move to replace dispatchers with technology, but it can help free them up to focus on the more critical incidents.
Oneida County also has implemented another new tech platform through Preferred to help dispatchers communicate in real time with callers during emergencies. It enables two-way texting, allowing the dispatcher to communicate even if someone cannot safely speak during an emergency.
Also, the 911 dispatcher can send a secure link via text message that allows a caller to livestream video directly from their smartphone to the 911 center.
Picente said that video can get the needed help to a fire or crime scene more efficiently.
“You know, if I want to report, ‘my neighbor's house is on fire,’ and (the dispatcher says), ‘Well, can we access your phone to see?’, they can see what's happening there.”
Oneida County’s Emergency Services Director Fran Manfredo said the new technology will allow dispatchers “to gather better information during emergencies while also ensuring routine inquiries are handled efficiently.”
