From Breitbart: Aurelian, an AI voice assistant startup, has raised $14 million in funding to help understaffed 911 call centers manage “non-emergency” calls more efficiently.
TechCrunch reports that emergency response centers across the United States are facing a critical staffing shortage, leading to increased pressure on dispatchers and potentially compromising public safety. Aurelian, a startup that began by automating appointment bookings for hair salons, has pivoted to address this issue by developing an AI voice assistant designed to handle non-emergency calls for 911 dispatch centers.
Aurelian’s journey began when a client’s hair salon was constantly disrupted by a nearby school’s carpool line blocking their parking lot. When the salon owner called the city’s non-emergency line, she was put on hold for 45 minutes before reaching a dispatcher. This incident prompted Keenan to investigate the inner workings of municipal non-emergency response call centers, revealing that the same personnel often handle both emergency and non-emergency calls.
Aurelian’s AI voice agent is trained to triage non-urgent issues such as noise complaints, parking violations, and stolen wallet reports, which do not require an immediate response from an officer or can be resolved without dispatching personnel to the scene. The AI system is designed to recognize genuine emergencies and promptly transfer those calls to a human dispatcher. For non-emergency situations, the AI collects essential information and either generates a report or communicates the details directly to the police department for follow-up action.
The AI 911 system was first launched in May 2024, and is being used in multiple cities, including Snohomish County, Washington; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Kalamazoo, Michigan.
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