Fairfax Co. pilots AI for nonemergency 911 calls

Fairfax County, Virginia, is testing the use of artificial intelligence to triage nonemergency 911 calls, with the hope of getting residents and visitors experiencing an urgent situation help faster.

Fairfax County, Virginia, is testing the use of artificial intelligence to triage nonemergency 911 calls, with the hope of getting residents and visitors experiencing an urgent situation through to a call taker faster.

The county recently activated the AI technology for about two hours, and it handled almost 150 calls, according to Dru Clarke, assistant director of operations with Fairfax County 911.

In the first phase of the plan, the AI helps filter and handle nonemergency calls that don’t have the need for a dispatch. As part of a second phase, planned for later this year, the technology will help with calls that do require a nonemergency dispatch.

The county’s 911 call center handles over a million calls each year, Clarke said, and 60% of those calls are for nonemergencies.

“The same 911 professional that’s handling the 911 calls are handling the nonemergency calls as well, and so if they’re tied up on a nonemergency call, that means that the 911 line could possibly be holding, which we never want,” Clarke said.

During the recent trial, the AI understood English and Spanish. It connected callers to necessary county agencies, and the county said some people got a text message to report an issue online. In the second phase, the AI will understand and respond to the top five spoken languages in the county, Clarke said.

The technology can handle calls for things such as locating a towed car or getting a police report from an incident that happened a few days prior. In some cases, callers didn’t realize they were speaking to AI, Clarke said.

“The nonemergency line is like a potpourri of everything Google related,” Clarke said.

When the call volume for emergencies spikes, Clarke said nonemergency callers could sometimes be on hold for three to 10 minutes, and “that is frustrating for our community members. That was really the catalyst to implement this program.”

At any point, Clarke said callers can ask the technology to be connected to a real person, and it will add the call to the queue.

“There will be zero downtime on the 911 call line if this agent can handle all of the nonemergency calls, and that really is improving the safety and security of Fairfax County residents and visitors,” Clarke said.

Phase two, which Clarke said is scheduled for later this year, will involve the technology handling calls that involve a dispatch. That can be graffiti on the side of the road or a tree down, “something that requires a public safety response but not a 911 response,” Clarke said.

The AI isn’t replacing 911 dispatchers, Clarke said, adding that nearby Arlington uses similar technology.

“There’s still a human component to dealing with people in crisis, especially on the 911 line,” Clarke said.

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