WINTER GARDEN, Fla. – The city of Winter Garden wants to add artificial intelligence to its 911 call center as part of a plan to improve efficiency and response times.
During a meeting on Thursday, commissioners will vote to approve a contract with Aurelian AI to provide a program called “Ava” that will interact with callers.
Ava, short for Automated Virtual Agent, is an artificial intelligence system designed to handle non-emergency calls so dispatchers can focus on true emergencies.
The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office began using Ava on Aug. 1. Since then, the system has answered thousands of non-emergency calls that once came through to live dispatchers.
[BELOW: Listen to 911 call about ‘out of control’ party]
Ava can route routine issues, like animal complaints or water main breaks, to proper departments so the calls don’t tie up phone lines.
The system can also recognize when a situation turns serious and immediately connect the call to a live 911 dispatcher.
Jason Meeker has lived in Winter Garden for a few months and supports the new technology.
“To have a 911 call come in and be able to triage that really, really quickly, I think it would be great,” Meeker said. “I think that most 911 dispatching centers are usually overworked, and you get to the point where people who really need somebody on a line have to wait.”
[BELOW: ‘Satanic activity:’ 911 call in underage party]
Since Ava’s launch in Volusia County, the sheriff’s office reported faster response times and higher morale among dispatchers.
If approved in Winter Garden, Aurelian AI will provide the service under a three-year contract at $55,000 per year.
Commissioners will vote on the system during their meeting at 6:30 p.m.