Maine 911 centers see potential in AI tech, but many are proceeding with caution

Maine 911 centers see potential in AI tech, but many are proceeding with caution

PENOBSCOT COUNTY (WGME) -- For Maine’s 911 dispatch centers, the calls do not stop, and neither does the pressure on already short-staffed teams to quickly sort emergencies from less urgent calls.

Now, some agencies are turning to artificial intelligence to help manage the workload, though few are willing to let it play a role in the most critical calls.

Penobscot County’s Regional Communications Center has led Maine in call volume for six straight years, even as it has gone without a full staff for a portion of that time.

The center handles more than 60,000 911 calls annually, Director Brad Fitzgerald told CBS13 I-Team, in addition to more than 400,000 calls to its non-emergency lines.

“They were working long hours, and the call volume every year has continued to rise and rise," Fitzgerald said. "It can be such a quick, fast, workload, and it could be an extended workload that puts a lot of stress and strain on our staff."

The staffing shortage extends beyond Penobscot County. A 2024 study from the Maine Public Utilities Commission found only six of Maine’s 22 dispatch centers were fully staffed at the time. The study called the shortage “critical” in parts of the state and a concern “in both the short and long term.”

Against that backdrop, the Penobscot County center began looking in 2023 for ways to ease pressure on its staff without changing how it handles emergencies or responds to the public.

“We still have to treat every call as if it could be an emergency,” Fitzgerald said. "If someone calls, regardless of what they call about, we're still going to do what we can to help them because obviously they called for a reason."

The solution was an artificial intelligence-powered system for the center’s non-emergency line.

It is not used to answer any 911 calls. Instead, the Amazon Web Services (AWS) system gives non-emergency callers options for issues that do not require an immediate response.

It can still connect them to a dispatcher, or text a link to their phone to file a report online.

"I call it a phone tree to give people some options and some prompts," Fitzgerald said. "There were some agencies that obviously were doing a lot with it, but it was very customizable, and that's what really caught our attention."

He says the technology has helped keep dispatchers available for emergency calls.

CBS13 I-Team Reporter Dan Lampariello: "Do you believe if you didn't have this AWS service, you'd see more of these non-emergency calls coming through?"

Fitzgerald: "Yeah. Absolutely. Would I say it's an astronomical number that it has taken away? No it hasn't but it has taken away a percentage. I think even a small percentage is still helping the burden on our staff."

The I-Team surveyed all of Maine’s local and regional 911 centers to find out how many agencies have implemented some for of AI technology.

Of the agencies that responded, two said they are using it now, including Penobscot County. Three others said they plan to launch some form of AI within the next 12 months.

Most dispatch center directors who responded to the I-Team's survey said they see potential benefits, but plan to wait for a stronger track record before using AI. Some also cited the cost of upgrading their technology.

"There's no timeline on it, but it's something that is worth exploring," Brad Williams, Interim Director of the Portland Regional Communications Center, said.

Williams says he is especially interested in whether AI could help dispatchers handle the routine calls that can pull them away from emergencies.

"You'd be surprised at some of the 911 calls we get. Any type of holiday we get asked 'What time are the fireworks?'" Williams said. "It's not going to eliminate everything, but that's the type of calls I see that it could help with."

Across the country, dispatch centers are finding different uses for AI. Some are using it to help sort and triage non-emergency calls.

Others are using it to call back people who hang up, spot clusters of calls during a crisis or translate and transcribe conversations.

As more agencies look at those possibilities, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration has been working to help 911 leaders understand where the technology may help — and where it could fall short.

Jeremy Hill, a Public Safety Advisor with the agency, says interest has changed quickly over the past year and a half.

“It’s gone from a resistance to a curiosity to now, I would even say, a hunger,” Hill said.

But Hill says no technology, or person, will be perfect. That is why quality assurance and safeguards remain essential.

And he does not see AI replacing dispatchers.

"I do believe the technology could be there, but I don't see us ever getting away from a human in the loop," Hill said. "There's still that human compassion, that empathy that really drives home the mission of what we do in public safety."

Fitzgerald agreed. Penobscot County’s system offers additional features, but he says the center will wait to see how the technology develops.

“Having a human to deal with those things is the safest option,” Fitzgerald said. “We’re waiting to see how the technology evolves, and that will obviously dictate how we evolve with this.”