Idaho Falls/Bonneville County ECC launches AI to answer non-emergency calls
News Release
The following is a news release from the Idaho Falls Police Department:
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — The Bonneville County & Idaho Falls Emergency Communications Center (ECC) has launched the use of Aurelian, an AI-powered voice assistant that answers and triages non-emergency calls. This system is designed to reduce the burden of non-emergency calls, allowing our Emergency Communications Officers to devote their full attention to genuine emergencies.
In Bonneville County, 911 calls and calls to the non-emergency dispatch number (208-529-1200) are all answered by the same team of Emergency Communications Officers (ECOs). This team handles all incoming calls and dispatches for all first responder agencies in Bonneville County, including Idaho Falls Police, Idaho Falls Fire, Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office, the Bonneville County Fire District, Ucon Fire, Ucon Police, and the Swan Valley Fire Department. Over the last five years, the Bonneville County & Idaho Falls ECC has averaged 211,000 calls into the center and dispatched 115,000 incidents to first responders each year.
Despite what many may think, this enormous responsibility is handled by a relatively small team of dedicated Emergency Communications Officers, commonly called dispatchers. Across the profession, many emergency communications centers struggle with staffing, turnover, and fatigue. ECOs often move from call to call, with little to no downtime between those calls. During busy times, callers may have to wait, call back, or be placed on hold while ECOs handle higher-priority 911 and emergency calls.
The addition of Aurelian, and the AI calltaker referred to as “AI Annie”, is intended to assist this team of dedicated professionals and to continue to provide excellent service to our community.
More focus on life-saving calls
By offloading routine, repetitive, non-urgent calls (e.g., noise complaints, road hazards, general inquiries), dispatchers can concentrate on urgent, life-saving emergency calls and complex calls that require a live ECO.
Before Aurelian, Emergency Communications Officers spent a great deal of time answering calls that should have been placed to other county or city entities like police records, utilities, the courts, and others. With AI Annie now in place, rather than tying up an ECO with those calls and transfers, AI Annie can transfer callers to the right place, and ECOs can focus on emergency calls.
Better caller experience, with instant response
Before adding AI Annie, non-emergency callers had to wait for an available ECO to answer their call. During busy times or when multiple 911 calls were coming in, callers may have had to wait, call back, or be placed on hold mid-call for ECOs to handle emergency calls. Because there’s zero hold time or competition with emergency calls, callers get immediate engagement and resolution when possible. AI Annie can also text callers links to online reporting and other common online resources. AI Annie is also available in Spanish. A Language Line has been used for many years and continues to be used by ECOs for many other languages.
To get the most accurate assistance from AI Annie, callers should speak in a normal tone of voice and at their usual speed—there is no need to talk louder or slower. Callers should provide two or three sentences explaining the reason for their call, just like if they were speaking to a live person. For example, “I need to get a copy of a police report from the Idaho Falls Police Department,” will provide a better result than one-word answers like “Report” or requests to speak to a live person.
Over the last several weeks, AI Annie has been integrated and trained for the ECC and is now answering all calls to the non-emergency dispatch number (208-529-1200). While AI Annie is clearly identifiable as an AI tool, there’s no “press 1 for …” menu, only a conversational interface designed to feel natural. AI Annie will ask follow-up questions, clarify information, and guide the caller through the process,
All AI-handled calls are recorded and generate logs, transcripts, and summaries that can be audited or checked for accuracy or issues. All calls handled by AI Annie are reviewed by ECOs for accuracy, then dispatched to first responders. AI Annie is also trained to monitor for sounds and situations that indicate the call should be transferred immediately and seamlessly to a live ECO.
All 911 calls will continue to be answered by live Emergency Communications Officers.
Since the start of the rollout in early September, AI Annie has had a success rate of 94%, a number that increases as the system continues to be trained and refined. The center has also seen a 62% reduction in the rate of non-emergency calls, meaning that 62% of calls to the non-emergency line were able to be handled entirely by AI Annie. The remaining 38% of calls have been transferred to ECOs.
As the center continues to use and fine-tune the Aurelian system, the Bonneville County and Idaho Falls Emergency Communications Center expects to see a measurable drop in dispatcher workload from non-emergency calls, faster response to critical 911 calls, enhanced staff well-being, and a more sustainable work environment, along with high caller satisfaction with prompt, clear, and accurate responses.
Addressing common AI concerns
Is this replacing human dispatchers?
No. Aurelian is designed to assist, not replace. It absorbs non-critical load so that dispatchers can do what they’re trained to do: handle emergency calls. This team already runs incredibly lean, and there is no expectation that AI Annie would replace ECOs.
What about errors or false negatives?
Aurelian continuously monitors conversations and can escalate to a live dispatcher if anything appears potentially urgent. All calls, even those handled autonomously, leave an audit trail for oversight.
Is caller privacy safe?
Callers’ data is handled under strict policies, and Aurelian does not mine or share customer data. Information provided from calls handled by AI Annie is handled the same a