The calls will now be processed by Ava, the dispatch center’s new virtual assistant. The tech is powered by Aurelian, a Seattle-based software company, the Kalamazoo County dispatch center said in a news release while announcing the AI on Thursday, Dec. 19.
Ava is quick to react to requests and respond to questions. It speaks multiple languages, officials said. The AI is “very smart,” the agency said.
The company advertises the technology as “a powerful Voice AI that doesn’t just route callers, but actually solves their needs.”
The AI agent is designed specifically for emergency communications centers, including routing calls appropriately and collecting information for public safety resources to be dispatched, the the news release states. The dispatch center encourages callers to provide as much detail as possible to the AI to get the fastest response to non-emergency requests.
“We’re trying to free up some of our staff to have more time to deal with emergencies,” Kalamazoo County Dispatch Authority Executive Director Jeffery Troyer said.
All calls that require public safety assistance are reviewed and monitored by dispatchers to ensure complete and accurate information is passed on to the correct resource, Kalamazoo County Dispatch Authority said.
Several “fail-safes” are in the system, Kalamazoo County Dispatch Authority said.
If Ava can’t understand the caller’s needs or determines the call to be an emergency, the call is immediately transferred to a dispatcher to assist, officials said.
There are times when the call center is handling a high volume of calls, like during a tornado, he said. The AI will be useful for those times, when dispatchers sometimes cannot get to the non-emergency calls.
A call placed to the non-emergency number Thursday afternoon was answered by the AI. The call was promptly forwarded to Troyer after the caller asked for the director. Hear the AI’s voice in the video below as Ava transfers the call:
In the past, the transfer would have been handled by a human.
The facility handles an average of 260,000 non-emergency calls per year including police, fire and medical incidents. About half of the calls come through the main non-emergency number, 269-488-8911, and the AI will handle those calls, the agency said.
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