Emergency Communications launches watch desk, AI nonemergency calls handling and public-safety clinician

Jada Lee, director of Emergency Communications and Citizen Services (ECCS), briefed City Council on May 6 about operational changes in 9-1-1 and nonemergency call handling and workforce support.

Lee said ECCS opened a watch desk in August 2024 to provide situational awareness, push emergency notifications and free 9-1-1 supervisors to manage incidents. The watch desk currently operates from 5:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. with four full-time staff; Lee said a dedicated supervisor will be hired later in the year.

Nonemergency AI and telephony upgrades: ECCS implemented Amazon Connect on the nonemergency line (757-385-5000) in April 2024. Lee said the auto-attendant and AI routing handle about 45% of nonemergency calls, improving 9-1-1 call-answer times by approximately three to five seconds. She also reported the department migrated from legacy Verizon telephony to an all-IP AT&T network and is advancing a CAD-to-CAD regional integration project to share call-dispatch information with neighboring jurisdictions.

Workforce and clinician support: Lee said ECCS hired a public-safety clinician to help dispatchers and call-takers process crisis exposure and reduce trauma-driven turnover; the department’s retention has improved to about 79% overall, a roughly 18-point increase. ECCS also revised hiring and training pathways to better align staff skills with positions and reported academy-class retention improvements.

Partnerships and redundancy: Lee described partnerships with schools on safety task forces, a tertiary backup arrangement with Regent University for resiliency, and progress on a CAD-to-CAD project with regional partners to streamline dispatch handoffs.

Ending: Lee invited council to telecommunicators-week events and thanked council for support of technology and staffing investments.