Jefferson County 911 using new AI tech to provide faster emergency responses
GOLDEN, Colo. September 25 2024— Jefferson County 911 is using new artificial intelligence technology to provide faster and more efficient emergency responses throughout Jefferson and Clear Creek counties.
At the emergency operations center, every call starts the same way.
“This is Jeffcom 911. Can you hear me?” said call taker Juanita Williams.
But after that, Williams has no idea what will come next.
“We’re here to be the calm voice in the storm of people’s lives,” said Williams.
In the past, she took notes throughout the call, but now, new AI is helping her do that.
“This is a first in Colorado, first in the state for rolling out our advanced features here,” said Chris Hill, COO of Carbyne.
Carbyne is the new AI technology created to assist call takers.
Hill said every conversation is written out, capturing details quicker than before.
The platform can also automatically detect different languages, so there’s less waiting for interpreters.
“We are applying AI to understand different tones of callers, whether they’re shouting or they’re screaming,” said Hill.
Within the next two months, JeffCom911 will also be able to program this new system to address repeat calls, moving real emergencies to the top of the queue.
“We can deploy an AI bot that answers the call and says, ‘Are you calling about the accident on I-70?’. You say, ‘Yes, just wanted to let you know.’ We’re like, ‘Thank you very much. Do you need any other assistance?’ They’re like, ‘No.’ We say, ‘Thank you very much.’ Or the bot does, and that call is handled and never has to go into the center,” explained Hill.
And while he said this in no way replaces call takers, in the short time it’s been up and running, Williams already sees a difference.
“We see information being generated two times as fast. I think it would be helpful for other 911 call centers to have this system,” said Williams.