911 director outlines staffing timeline and AI pilots to cut wait times

Jen Reedy, director of the Montgomery County Emergency Communications Center, told the Public Safety Committee that staffing has long strained ECC operations but recent recruitment has improved the picture: "We currently have 25 trainees in various stages of training and only 19 vacancies remaining," she said. Reedy said a 12-person academy in November should reduce vacancies to seven and, with continued classes, the ECC could be fully staffed by July 2026.

Reedy described a three-part plan to shorten wait times: adjust shift schedules to concentrate coverage during peak hours (adding 10-hour day shifts to create overlap between 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.), deploy AI-based phone-tree vendors to screen nonemergency calls (funded through the 9-1-1 Board) and continue recruiting. She noted nonemergency calls remain 40–50% of call volume and said the county is exploring vendor solutions that can answer or reroute routine queries and handle many hang-ups without a call taker. "We hope that this, paired with increased staffing and implementing more efficient schedules for our specialists, will move us closer to the goal of being able to answer 9-1-1 calls with 0 wait time," Reedy said.

Council members pressed metrics: the ECC reported between 75% and 85% of calls were answered within 15 seconds, roughly 13–23% of calls waited more than 20 seconds, and fiscal-24 data showed about 24% of queue calls were on hold for about 11 seconds. Reedy and Lieutenant Cody Fields said they are working with 988 and other partners to divert frequent nonemergency callers and build MOUs to ensure safe transfers.