When it comes to public safety, every second counts. From fire and police departments to air traffic control and medical services, safeguarding lives and infrastructure requires the most agile call recording and analytics solutions out there. And what says ‘quick and efficient’ more than artificial intelligence (AI)?
The integration of AI within these aspects of public safety services can be, and is already beginning to be, a pivotal catalyst for change.
ASC Technologies has been offering recording and analytics services to the public safety sector since its inception in 1964, with a diverse clientele spanning police departments, governmental agencies, and military organizations. In a recent conversation with two of ASC’s Product Managers, Britta Chiaia and John Fountain, we discussed how AI-driven features empower call handlers, enhance efficiency, and ultimately save lives.
Two Types of Documentation
Within the public safety domain, there are two different types of documentation required. Short-term documentation enables rapid playback of recent emergency calls, facilitating quick clarification and response adjustments, while long-term documentation is essential for reconstructing critical events such as hostage situations or criminal activities.
ASC cater to both types of documentation with their Recording Insights solution, used by many public safety organizations around the world.
“Recognizing the invaluable role of public safety services, we’re constantly adding new ways to utilize AI-driven features in Recording Insights to better support both documentation and analysis,” Fountain says.
Increased Efficiency is a Lifesaver. Literally
So, how is AI used within ASC’s Recording Insights platform to make public safety operations smoother?
Other than the ability to search and filter conversations, one of the most important aspects of the platform is its dashboard, where conversations are categorized based on predefined parameters like urgency and relevant emergency services.
“When it comes to categorization, AI is a huge help,” Chiaia notes.
“It effectively means no more manual keyword preparation, which used to be extremely time-consuming and virtually impossible for many of our customers.”
Recording Insight’s AI policy engine also allows call handlers to dig deeper into conversations, picking out essential information like addresses and summarizing the main points. This can be helpful for various use cases, one of which is using the THRIVE system.
“Many public safety services, particularly in the UK, use THRIVE to evaluate emergency calls, as part of which they’re required to rate threat levels and answer extensive questions,” Fountain explains.
Through Recording Insights’ Live View panel, one can also add information such as case number or document the dispatcher’s THRIVE assessment.
“This helps both speed up assessments and allocate resources more effectively, saving time and manpower,” Chiaia says.
Finally, AI can help identify hidden threats in conversations by asking questions about them.
“A threat call isn’t always as obvious as a bomb mention,” Chiaia explains.
“In vague cases, interrogating the AI engine can be extremely helpful to understand whether the call is indeed a threat call or not.”
What’s Next?
Adding to its existing AI-driven features, ASC are currently working on an automated quality management feature, allowing users to get quick feedback on the quality level of conversations.
“Right now, it’s a time-consuming manual process, requiring public safety personnel to actually listen to calls to complete,” Chiaia says.
“This is already made easier thanks to transcription, but they often still have to check the conversation to see if all the information was collected properly.”
Thanks to AI, users will soon be able to get automated feedback about things like appropriate language use and location validation. This capability, as well as AI-based auto-categorization, is planned to be added to Recording Insights in the next couple of months to further support call dispatchers.
“Ultimately, all of these features are about increasing efficiency in the public safety sector, and hopefully, saving lives,” Fountain concludes.
To learn more about ASC’s public safety solutions, visit their website.
