Waukesha County dispatch center to use AI to answer non-emergency calls

WAUKESHA COUNTY, Wis. (CBS 58) -- The next time you call the non-emergency line, artificial intelligence could be picking up your call. The Waukesha County Communications Center is the second county in the state to use AI at its dispatch center.

Every call dispatcher Katie Smith answers could save a life.

“It depends on the day, but I've hit 100 in an 8-hour day, that’s not unusual,” said Smith.

With thousands of calls coming in every day, Smith says dispatchers are left putting non-emergency calls on hold.

“Just yesterday for example, we had a lot of vehicle accidents, we had a lot of disabled vehicles,” said Smith. “We’re always taking in non-emergency and 9-1-1s at the same time.”

That's why the center is implementing Ava – an artificial intelligence assistant to help with those calls. It’s made by a company called Aurelian based out of Seattle and funded by grant money.

Currently, Ava is being used intermittently. CBS 58 was able to test out the program by placing a call on the non-emergency line. We contacted Ava by calling about chest pain because it was a medical call, we were transferred to a dispatcher.

“Please stay on the line while we transfer you to a dispatcher, or you can hang up and dial 911.”

Some residents say they’re concerned about Ava's accuracy.

“I wouldn’t feel great. I’ve not had great experience with AI. It always says when you’re looking things up, double-check because it might be wrong and it's been wrong several times,” said Joette Barta, Waukesha resident.

Operations manager Chris Becker says Ava isn’t like your typical AI search engine. Disruptions in the background, altercations, or keywords like “weapon” will transfer callers to the emergency line.

“It’s not true AI, in the sense that it's using the entire internet of things. It's using specific information that we provided it,” said Becker.

Smith says it's a way to help dispatch callers focus on calls that could save lives.

“If Ava can elevate those non-emergent lines that we’re constantly putting on hold because of the inundation of 911s, then I think that’s better for the public to get service to,” said Smith.

Ava is expected to launch full-time, by the end of the year.