MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. (WXYZ) — A call to 9-1-1 doesn’t just end when the call is over. Dispatch center supervisors in Macomb County are tasked with sifting through those calls, searching for errors, evaluating for performance and finding ways to improve.
But those reviews can be a painstakingly long process.
The calls are nonstop inside central dispatch in Macomb County—and this summer, the department is launching new technology that will evaluate responses to those calls like never before.
With 12-hour shifts, and just under 1,500 calls per day, dispatchers inside COMTEC, the Macomb County Sheriff's Office Central Dispatch Center, serve as the calm in the storm.
But just like Mother Nature, these calls are unpredictable and these dispatchers are always adapting.
“So now with the ability to have 100 percent of those calls evaluated, we have a much greater insight into what those strengths and weaknesses are," said Angela Elsey, dispatch director at the Macomb County Sheriff's Office.
Launching in July, a new AI system, Elsey says, will significantly improve how her dispatchers respond to calls.
“We spent quite a bit of time talking with the vendor and learning about the product before presenting it to the board," she said.
Scott MacDonald, a former firefighter, is co-founder for that vendor: Denver-based GovWorx, a 9-1-1 workforce management platform.
“For a human to evaluate a 911 call, let’s say ... a 7 minute call for a human on average that would take them 1 hour 17 minutes to review,” said MacDonald. “You have to pull the audio, you have to pull up the event data, you have to put on a headset, pause, rewind”
He says that's where CommsCoach comes in—the AI software is already used in dispatch centers across 40-plus states.
“It's not some random selection of this call or that call, it's looking over a much larger volume, so we're able to see trends now that are far different that anecdotal random reviews of certain calls,” said MacDonald.
In March, the county board of commissioners voted unanimously to approve a 1 year $41-thousand contract with MacDonald’s company.
“I think there's a potential for good,” said Mike Bernier, who has lived in Mount Clemens for nearly 40 years.
“We had to call the fire department not too long ago, and it was horrendous; they wanted to ask all sorts of questions before they dispatched the truck...If AI is reviewing it and they're making recommendations, maybe that’ll pick up response time," said Bernier.
That's exactly what Elsey says the software should ultimately do.
“Better trained dispatchers, dispatchers who receive more consistent feedback, more consistent application of that feedback, leads to better service for the public," said Elsey. “I look at AI as a way to enhance our job, help us do things more efficiently, not replacing humans, but helping us make better decisions."
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