VIDEO: Across the nation, dispatch centers are dealing with severe staff shortages, but one center is leaning into new technologies to cope with the strain.
It’s no secret that artificial intelligence is rapidly growing and advancing and Lyon County is taking advantage. In just one month since incorporating a new AI tool, called “Betty” to the Emergency Communication Center says they’ve already seen a positive impact.
And no Betty is not a new employee. “Betty is an assistive technology,” LCECC director Roxanne Van Gundy explained. “Betty does not replace anyone. She’s something that works alongside our 911 professionals to take non-emergency calls.”
Betty is responsible for handling 10 non-emergency call types, like minor accidents, animal concerns and lockouts. “We’ve taken a list of questions that we would train a human to ask and put it in Betty so she asks it just as a human would had you gotten a 911 telecommunicator,” Van Gundy said.
As Betty takes the call, the program is developing a summary that is then sent to the dispatchers via email. For those skeptical of AI, Van Gundy assures that two human dispatchers are still in the center at all times, adding that safe guards are also in place. “If something escalates, she’s sending you to a human right away.”
Van Gundy says that removing distractions and passing them along to Betty will ultimately lead to a safer community. “We want to be focused for emergencies, focused for radio traffic when our responders need us and we can’t be answering calls that really we have no business answering in the first place.”