Westcom chief reports 2024 technology upgrades, strong 911 response times and AI pilots to Clive council

The Westcom Emergency Communication Center briefed the Clive City Council on March 27 about upgrades completed in 2024, performance metrics and next steps to expand regional dispatch capabilities and introduce artificial‑intelligence tools.

Chief of Westcom said the center upgraded its 911 telephone servers and migrated police records management to a virtual environment, and is in final testing on a CAD‑to‑CAD integration that would let neighboring agencies share computer‑aided dispatch information in real time. "We're in the final stages of getting ready to put it into a pilot project," the chief said, noting the interface is two‑way and will allow agencies to "tag" each other's units with mutual consent.

Why it matters: Westcom serves multiple partner cities and provides the information dispatchers use to keep officers, firefighters and paramedics safe; improvements that speed decisionmaking or reduce operator workload can affect emergency response across the region.

The chief gave 2024 activity figures: about 59,000 911 calls (86% from mobile devices), 113,000 non‑emergency administrative calls, 265 text‑to‑911 messages and roughly 172,000 created dispatch incidents across police, fire and EMS. Westcom staff also ran 148,000 inquiries that produced about 645,000 database returns during investigations and calls for service. "92% of all 911 calls we answer in 10 seconds," the chief told the council, adding that Westcom meets or exceeds national standards for answering emergency lines.

Westcom also reported a staff of 43 telecommunicators, 2,645 hours of continuing education across the team and 17 life‑saving awards last year for telecommunicator interventions that produced positive outcomes before responders arrived. The chief said Westcom recently received reaccreditation as a public safety telecommunicator training entity, and "we are the only one in the state of Iowa" with that certification.

On technology and costs, staff highlighted language‑translation needs: the center logged roughly 28,000 minutes of translation last year at a cost the chief said was $54,000, and he told the council that voice‑to‑voice translation products are becoming available. "Beginning April 1st, there are three companies that will have voice‑to‑voice direct translation capabilities," he said, and Westcom plans pilots to evaluate security and effectiveness. Staff also plan to automate alarm‑call processing with software that inputs alarm calls directly into the CAD system to reduce manual entry workload.

Facility planning and finances were discussed: Westcom estimates the current operations footprint could be sufficient until about 2028 but said a full relocation could cost roughly $20 million; the agency is instead prioritizing an interior remodel to expand operational positions and pursuing grant funding. Staff said a line‑item review in December identified about $57,000 in cuts and that savings have grown to roughly $75,000–$80,000 as part of ongoing budget scrutiny.

The chief invited council members and families to tour the center and observe operations. Next steps include the CAD‑to‑CAD pilot with partner agencies, further testing of AI language tools and continued work on facility capacity and funding options.