Handling emergency calls quickly and accurately is essential for public safety, but outdated systems can create delays in dispatching first responders.
Motorola Solutions recognized this issue and responded with VESTA NXT, a next-generation 9-1-1 software designed to enhance call handling efficiency.
This software integrates assistive artificial intelligence to streamline workflows and reduce response times, ensuring help reaches those in need faster.
To learn more about this development, FSJA Editor Iain Hoey spoke with Andre Williams, Senior Director of Product Management for NG 9-1-1 Emergency Call Management at Motorola Solutions.
Andre has been with the company for over 25 years and played a key role in leading the creation of VESTA NXT, based on research done directly with call handlers.
In this discussion, FSJA Editor Iain Hoey spoke to Andre to find out how this technology is improving emergency response efficiency.
In the United States, an estimated 240 million emergency calls are made to 9-1-1 each year.
Nearly one million call handlers field these calls for help, but for myriad reasons including high stress and long hours, they are reporting record levels of burnout.
As a result, leaders of public safety answering points (PSAPs) have struggled to fill vacancies within their 9-1-1 centers and many communities are seeing high 9-1-1 call volumes and wait times.
Compounding 9-1-1 call handler fatigue is the cognitive burden that stems from the increasing amount of data they need to quickly process and prioritize from different systems, while not missing a key incident detail that could come in from a call or from rich media like videos and texts shared by the community.
PSAPs are looking for technology that can help bolster their teams’ awareness, simplify work processes and play a role in reducing stress.
VESTA NXT helps call handlers unify and process critical data – incident details, floor plans and safety profiles – from across disparate public safety systems onto a single platform, using assistive AI to surface key information.
Bigger buttons, color and keywords – with less tabs and fewer clicks – also help to enhance a call handler’s speed and decision-making.
Available as both an on-premise and cloud solution, VESTA NXT can support remote PSAP work and aid with retention and attracting younger recruits to public safety roles.
Improved workflows allow a 9-1-1 call handler to get information to a dispatcher quicker and send firefighters, for example, out faster and with greater situational awareness.
When lives are on the line, seconds count, as does accuracy.
The assistive AI in VESTA NXT can help create evolving 9-1-1 call summaries that can include gate codes, whether pets are in a building and how a fire is spreading so that dispatch can update first responders in real time.
We live in a connected world that makes it simple to access an ocean of data, but difficult to find islands of information and knowledge.
A 9-1-1 call handler receives a deluge of data with every call that needs to be processed and verified in seconds before a dispatcher can send resources to the caller in need.
Assistive AI can help to synthesize this information and organize it into patterns, while generating an evolving call summary that can be shared with dispatchers and those in the field to support a more effective emergency response.
AI can serve as a force multiplier for public safety agencies by reducing time spent on mundane tasks such as lookups, data entry and data verification – freeing up time that was previously spent by PSAP personnel on collecting, inputting and communicating information.
It also helps arm responders with the insights they need for the fastest, smartest and safest action.
AI can be used to transcribe 9-1-1 audio into searchable text that can be read, reviewed and ultimately preserved after the call ends for post-call analysis.
Motorola Solutions’ call handling software uses AI to synthesize conversational intelligence, translating and transcribing millions of minutes of 9-1-1 call audio each month.
In areas with diverse populations, AI-powered translation can be a critical tool for 9-1-1 call handlers.
When a caller speaks Spanish, for instance, AI can recognize the alternate language, translate the conversation and generate a written summary of the call in English that dispatchers can share with police, fire and EMS.
Recently, a call handler supported a 9-1-1 call from a Spanish speaker and attempted to connect the person in need with a translator, but the caller hung up before a connection was made.
The call handler, however, was able to see the translation on screen, including the address the caller had given.
She saw that the person was reporting an assault by her husband and determined that domestic violence was taking place.
Although attempts to reconnect with the caller and get more information failed, the call handler had enough information for officers to understand the nature of the emergency and be dispatched to the location in time.
A large percentage of 9-1-1 calls are non-emergencies.
Non-emergency calls may pertain to abandoned cars, excessive noise or complaints about animals, roadways and trash – situations that do not warrant immediate assistance from police, fire or EMS.
VESTA NXT’s virtual response assistant can help reduce a call handler’s workload by up to 35 percent by diverting non-emergency calls to more appropriate resources.
Our team works with agencies to determine the types of non-emergency calls typically clogging their phone cues and to map the appropriate alternative resources that our virtual response assistant can direct callers to for help.
This leads to two critical outcomes: reduced 9-1-1 caller wait times and more focused attention on true emergencies.
Diverting non-emergency calls allows PSAPs to decrease the time it takes to dispatch first responders and serve the community.
Rapid decision-making is crucial from the moment an emergency call is received.
VESTA NXT uses assistive AI to swiftly gather important incident data from multiple sources including the call transcript, facility floor plans and safety profiles that community members complete.
An AI-generated call summary surfaces key details to the call handler who passes this critical information along to dispatch for faster and more informed deployment of emergency resources.
Being able to quickly determine the right location for an incident can save precious seconds.
For example, if a 9-1-1 caller on a highway reports a vehicle matching an Amber Alert, the software can help visualize the caller’s verbal descriptions of their location onto a single map view – i.e, “I just passed Exit 9” or “I am driving by the water tower on my right” – and create an evolving real-time summary of the call for dispatch and responders.
If a fire in an apartment building is reported, VESTA NXT can use assistive AI to aggregate multiple 9-1-1 calls or other location sources to determine the likely unit or floor number so that firefighters can focus their response efforts.
VESTA NXT surfaces supplemental information like health profiles, facility data and additional data such as demographics, emergency contacts, medical information, texts, images and live video that can further enhance emergency response.
AI culls the most helpful information from these sources as well as from the 9-1-1 call transcription.
This wealth of information – when synthesized and distributed quickly – can provide police, fire and EMS with optimal situational awareness so they can arrive on scene ready to take action.
Let’s say a 9-1-1 caller reports that her sister is having a heart attack and the call handler asks what medications the sister is taking.
The caller may reply that there are so many, she isn’t sure.
AI will search for the injured party’s Smart911 profile and flag key details about the woman’s health condition and medications to help inform EMS.
Additionally, if the 9-1-1 caller opts to share live video from the scene – VESTA NXT can help surface that so the dispatcher can push it out to responding medics.
At Motorola Solutions, we believe that responsibly designed AI-enabled tools can continue to add value in emergency response by expediting decision-making, automating workflows and surfacing key information for responders in the field.
