The humans staffing Norfolk's 911 center have had to handle about a third fewer non-emergency calls since the city launched an AI-powered phone system last week.
E911 Manager Steven Summerlin explained that the AI system can respond to routine inquiries, including how to file a police report, whether evacuation is necessary before a storm, locations of shelters or how to report a neighbor's overgrown grass. Calls requiring police or fire department intervention are directed to a live operator.
Callers who want a person can say "I want to speak to an agent," and calls to 911 are still answered by trained humans.
Summerlin noted that the concept originated from a long-standing issue the division recognized: the same staff handle both 911 and non-emergency calls, with 911 calls prioritized so non-emergency callers may have to wait. Those callers left waiting on hold for several minutes were often seeking answers to questions that could easily be answered through a web search or other police resources.
He explained that the objective of the new system is to allow operators to concentrate on emergencies and only handle non-emergency calls that require dispatching assistance.
"Our staffing is actually what we would consider stabilized, meaning we do have, on a typical shift, enough people on staff to answer both the 911 calls and the non-emergency calls," Summerlin said.
During a City Council work session on August 25, NPD Chief Mark Talbot reported that the E911 division was short 16 staff members out of 83 positions.
But Summerlin clarified that the new system is not designed to decrease the number of call takers.
"We have to be mindful of the fact that these are tools. They're not going to be replacing staff," Summerlin said. "It's just repositioning the people we do have to be able to do the most prioritized mission in the room."
He mentioned that the center already employs AI in the 911 process via RapidSOS Communicator, which transcribes calls in real time so call takers and supervisors can monitor what is being said. He does not anticipate AI handling emergency calls during his career, as operators must gather information directly for first responders.
According to Summerlin, Norfolk discovered the system through Charleston County, South Carolina, and Virginia Beach was the only other 911 center in Hampton Roads to have implemented it prior to Norfolk. Since rolling it out at the end of September, two 911 centers in other localities have reached out to Norfolk about the technology, and the division is scheduled to meet with one of them next week.
