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Westcom reports system upgrades, rising translation costs and explores AI for 911
Summary
Westcom’s chief told the Urbandale City Council that 2024 brought major tech upgrades—text-to-911, CAD improvements and two data centers—while translation costs tripled; staff said AI-based translation and automation may reduce costs and speed alarm handling.
Chief (Westcom) presented Westcom’s 2024 annual report to the Urbandale City Council on March 18, saying the regional emergency dispatch center upgraded its 911 telephone and computer-aided dispatch systems, instituted text-to-911 and video capabilities, and moved police record management to virtual hosting across two data centers to improve redundancy.
The chief said Westcom handled roughly 59,009 911 calls in 2024, that about 86–87% were wireless calls, and that the center created about 72,000 CAD instances across the…
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