Central Dispatch officials are asking the board to approve a three-year contract with Aurelian AI of Seattle for an AI-powered “call taking system” that will help identify and route non-emergency calls to other government departments.
The projected cost is $60,000 for first year, then $72,000 in succeeding years. Funding for the new system will come from the existing 911 surcharge on telephone bills.
The purpose of the system is not to replace human dispatchers, but rather to reroute those calls that don’t require first responders, officials said. It has already been implemented in two other Michigan counties, plus dozens of other sites around the nation.
“It’s a little-known fact that most calls taken by central dispatch are not 911 calls,” said Corey LeCureux, deputy director of GTC central dispatch.
On average, the department processes 54,500 non-emergency calls per year. Many of those calls — up to 60 percent — do not need the attention of an emergency dispatcher, he added.
County officials estimate that Aurelian AI could potentially offload 35,000 calls per year from the emergency dispatch line to non-emergency services. That’s equivalent to about 1,200 hours of staff time, freeing up staff to do other tasks, such as documenting emergency calls and answering those calls during busy times.
“We hope to have the Aurelian AI system implemented by July, maybe even in time for Cherry Festival,” LeCureux said. “Every year, we get 911 calls about fireworks or the airshow being too loud, which are valid concerns but not true emergencies.”
Noise-related calls are only one example of non-emergency calls to 911.
More common examples include calls regarding routine court matters, civil disputes, vehicle impounds (handled by the Secretary of State Office), retail fraud, child custody orders (handled by the Friend of the Court), and follow-up calls to law enforcement officers.
The non-emergency number for those type of calls is (231) 922-4550, which is also operated by GTC 911 central dispatch.
BEYOND CALL ROUTING
The Aurelian AI software is far more sophisticated than a typical “press option” call routing system used by many businesses, according to a review by industry experts at NextTool AI.
Instead, Aurelian AI uses a powerful software engine to identify “markers,” such as key words, voice stress and other caller behaviors that indicate an urgent need for help.
In those cases, the system automatically routes the caller to a human 911 dispatcher.
For callers who have trouble with English, the software also offers support for Spanish, French, and 33 other languages, according to the company’s website.
The Aurelian system also offers callers online resources and answers basic questions. In addition, it collects important information for incident reports used in computer-aided dispatch reports.
When certain functions are implemented, Aurelian can also generate call summaries and transcripts.
“At the same time, our residents should know that if there’s any doubt about the urgency of a call, or danger involved, we will route them to a human being – a dispatcher,” LeCureux said. “Safety is always our No. 1 concern.”
MACHINE LEARNING
One of the underlying technologies powering many AI systems is the ability to learn over time, called “machine learning.”
General-purpose AI systems, such as ChatGPT and Gemini, use large language models (LLMs) based on massive amounts of text in high-speed databases. By analyzing that data, and identifying patterns, they can then generate human-like text, answer questions and even create artificial imagery or videos.
In contrast, the Aurelian AI is focused on the 911 dispatch environment. It will use caller interactions to improve customer service over time rather than attempt to replicate general-purpose AI “chat bots.”
Protecting caller privacy is a high priority for the GTC Central Dispatch Center, officials emphasized.
“We will not push data (from the Aurelian system) out to anyone elsewhere,” LeCureux said. “As for data retention, the state is expected to release a new retention schedule for 911 calls soon and we will follow those rules.”
If call volumes to the local 911 service increase, the Aurelian system is scalable, meaning it can adapt to a larger workload instead of being replaced, officials noted.
Part of the plan on the table is to eliminate one “full-time equivalent” position from the dispatch center, county documents show. However, that cut would not entail job cuts because the center currently has 3.5 openings.
“If we filled all of those open positions, we wouldn’t have anywhere for them to sit,” LeCureux said.
IN OTHER ACTION
On Wednesday, the GTC Commission also will hear an update on the progress of “Project Alpha” from construction management firm Cunningham-Limp. They will then vote on a motion to proceed with design development for the new central operations building, formerly referred to as the central storage facility.
Slated for the county’s LaFranier Road campus, Project Alpha is a multimillion-dollar project that will feature a new emergency operations center and 911 central dispatch center, as well as storage facilities.
On another software matter, the county board is expected to approve a 66-month agreement with OpenGov to provide a comprehensive workflow, asset management, and capital planning software solution for use by the county facilities department and related users.
In addition, board members are expected to approve a request from the Sheriff’s Department to purchase an off-road vehicle for trail patrol, enforcement and response.
Commissioners also will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the county Commission on Aging.
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