LONG BEACH, Calif. (KABC) — The city of Long Beach will soon be using artificial intelligence to review 911 calls as part of a first-of-its-kind program, and officials assure it’s not meant to replace jobs.<\/p>\n
The city receives approximately 600,000 911 calls every year.<\/p>\n
According to national standards, at least 2% of those calls should be reviewed annually for quality assurance. That comes out to 12,000 calls in Long Beach.<\/p>\n
Before, supervisors were tasked with manually reviewing them, which is why the city believes AI can help.<\/p>\n
“With this AI tool, we’re actually able to review 100% of the calls,” said Reginald Harrison, Director of the City of Long Beach’s Department of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Communications.<\/p>\n
The program is called CommsCoach AI and was developed by a company called GovWorx.<\/p>\n
The company says around 250 other 911 call centers across the country – including in California – currently use the technology. It currently has a $68,000-a-year contract with GovWorx until February 2028.<\/p>\n
Harrison said the program will review emergency calls and assign a score to every call, rating how the dispatcher handled it.<\/p>\n
Dispatchers will be assessed on their professionalism, tone, follow-up questions and judgment.<\/p>\n
Each call will be part of an employee’s overall evaluation status. Harrison said most dispatchers were not surprised by the technology’s introduction.<\/p>\n
“I think the dispatchers that have kept up with the industry are not surprised because we’ve seen across the country other call centers using AI in a number of different ways,” he said.<\/p>\n
Supervisors previously tasked with assessing the calls will now review the ones that are flagged by the program and provide coaching.<\/p>\n
Harrison guarantees that the goal is to get better, not to replace jobs.<\/p>\n
“AI will not replace dispatchers. AI will not take calls. AI will not replace human judgment,” said Harrison.<\/p>\n
He said the city spent months working to address privacy concerns.<\/p>\n
The program is preparing to store sensitive personal data, including names, addresses and health information.<\/p>\n
The city’s data security team vetted the software thoroughly to ensure it follows city guidelines, as well as HIPAA and other mandates.<\/p>\n
“The information that AI is listening to stays within the city’s secure data system does not leave the City of Long Beach,” said Harrison.<\/p>\n
The program is currently in a pilot phase, and officials hope to launch it as soon as possible.<\/p>\n
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