County to use virtual phone assistant for non-emergency calls – Oregon Observer (WI)

by | Jul 22, 2026 | Comm Center News

A change is coming to Dane County’s non-emergency operations. Dane County Public Safety Communications (PSC), will soon be deploying AVA, Aurelian’s virtual assistant for non emergency calls.

According to a county news release, the deployment ensures telecommunicators can prioritize active incidents, medical emergencies and other lifesaving work that only trained telecommunicators can do. Residents seeking non-emergency services should call 608-255-2345.

‘We have to hear the screams’: Calif. dispatchers address the mental toll of the job – Police1 (CA)

by | Jul 22, 2026 | Comm Center News

FRESNO, Calif. — It’s the calls for help when a child is drowning that stay with Matt Mendes, a Fresno County Sheriff’s Office 911 dispatcher who has worked his way up to supervisor.

Dispatchers rarely get closure after sending an officer to a scene, he said.

“We have to hear the screams and the cries for help. We have to make up the scenarios in our heads,” Mendes said. “I do think that we have it tough. We may not see the bodies, but we still have to hear it.”

In the face of rising costs for public safety services, the city of Fairview has more than doubled a monthly fee in the second year of its existence.

Beaumont PD turns to AI to help manage 911 calls | News | recordgazette.net (CA)

by | Jul 22, 2026 | Comm Center News

 

The Beaumont City Council has approved a three-year service agreement with Axon Enterprise for artificial intelligence-assisted dispatch software designed to help the Police Department manage increasing calls for service while improving emergency communications.

 The council voted June 16 to authorize the city manager to execute the agreement for Axon’s Prepared AI dispatching software.

The Next Evolution of Interoperability for Firefighters & Other First Responders | Firehouse

by | Jul 17, 2026 | Comm Center News

Major events are stress-testing systems

Some of the clearest examples of this challenge can be found in the major events that increasingly define modern public safety operations: the Super Bowl, political conventions, large-scale concerts, major marathons and international sporting events. These events bring together hundreds of agencies, thousands of responders, tens of thousands of attendees and countless moving parts that operate across jurisdictional boundaries. Call volumes surge. Overflow answering centers become part of normal operations. Mutual-aid resources flow across jurisdictions. Command structures expand. Information begins to move between agencies that might not routinely work together on a daily basis.