Anoka County to start using AI dispatcher for non-emergency calls starting Memorial Day weekend
Inside the Anoka County 911 dispatch center in Andover, Minnesota, calls are constantly coming in.
"Average for the year here is about 1,100 calls a day, and two-thirds of those are non-emergency calls," said Kari Morrissey, director for Anoka County Emergency Communications.
A new AI dispatcher is stepping in to handle those non-emergency calls without replacing the people behind the phones.
Instead of a phone tree, Eric the AI dispatcher asks the same questions a dispatcher would, gathering key details in real time.
"It gets the name, phone number, general description of what's going on, then we watch it too as well," said dispatcher Jamie Teetzel.
But if you call the 10-digit non-emergency number with a real emergency, the AI assistant will forward the call to a live dispatcher. The quick transfer helps save critical time, and dispatchers say seconds matter.
"Time is everything in this job, just a second millisecond, anything counts," said Teetzel.
And when call volume surges, that support can make a difference.
"We had four structure fires going on at once yesterday, then a grass wildlands fire. They were overwhelmed in here," said Morrissey.
Still, dispatchers were cautious about using AI for assistance.
"I was a little skeptical at first, but I think with our non-emergency, low-priority calls, it'll be helpful with the call load here," said Teetzel.
In ongoing testing, it's already helping reduce stress in a line of work that can take an emotional toll.
"We want to keep our people. This is a tough job. The mental health aspect of this job, it's hard," said Morrissey.
Anoka County plans to have Eric the AI dispatcher for non-emergency calls only in full service by Memorial Day weekend.
The technology will cost the county $60,000 a year.