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PSAPs are under immense pressure, balancing limited resources with growing community expectations. At Prepared, we believe AI can play a critical role in easing that burden.
In our recent webinar, “How to Handle Non-Emergency Calls with AI,” we joined forces with Anoka County 911 and Director Kari Morrissey to discuss how 911 centers can offload non-emergency call volume and focus on what matters most: saving lives.
Here are three key takeaways from the session.
AI is making an impact on non-emergency workflows right now
“We’re not talking about what's coming five years from now. We’re talking about what’s live and helping real PSAPs today,” said Prepared’s Brad Flanagan as he opened the discussion.
AI in public safety is no longer a distant idea. It is here and delivering real value.
Prepared’s Charlie Benamram, the Product Manager for our non-emergency solution, shared how Prepared’s system is currently handling thousands of non-emergency calls across the country.
While it filters, categorizes, and routes calls in real time, freeing up dispatcher capacity while improving service quality, the system does not aim to replace the human role. Instead, it enhances it.
Director Morrissey described how Anoka County uses a hybrid approach where AI screens and structures incoming calls, but human call takers remain in control of escalation and decision-making.
This model allows public safety teams to scale up without overextending. It adapts to rising demand while keeping humans in the loop, providing both efficiency and accountability.
Non-emergency doesn't mean not important
The conversation highlighted a truth that often gets overlooked: non-emergency does not mean unimportant. These calls represent real concerns for community members. Left unaddressed, they can damage public trust and reduce overall satisfaction with public safety services.
“People call 911 because they trust us,” Director Morrissey explained. “They don’t always know what qualifies as an emergency, and we shouldn’t expect them to.”
The challenge for agencies is that these calls can overwhelm systems and lead to burnout among staff. Prepared’s platform provides a solution by helping distinguish between urgent and routine situations without shutting the door on anyone seeking help.
The system uses conversational intelligence to ask relevant questions, understand the caller’s intent, and provide the right next steps. Sometimes that means routing to a community resource. Other times it means forwarding the issue to a dispatcher. The result is smarter triage, better experiences for callers, and more focused emergency response teams.
This approach helps agencies protect their operational capacity while continuing to serve the community with empathy and respect.
AI should be transparent, adaptable, and supportive of your team
One of the foremost concerns around AI in emergency communications is trust. Agencies need to know how decisions are being made and must have the ability to adjust systems as their protocols evolve.
Charlie emphasized that Prepared’s platform was built for transparency. Agencies can review all AI-generated transcripts, customize workflows, and align system behavior with their specific operating procedures. Nothing is hidden or locked.
In fact, every interaction becomes a learning opportunity.
Supervisors can use real calls to identify trends, adjust training, and enhance performance. This feedback loop strengthens the system over time and ensures it continues to reflect the agency’s needs.
For new team members, the AI also acts as a guide. Director Morrissey noted that the system’s structured approach helps orient less experienced staff and supports them in learning how to manage non-emergency calls effectively.
Rather than replacing team members, AI acts like an always-available partner. It helps maintain quality, boost training, and support high performance across the board.
Moving forward and empowering 911
As the webinar wrapped up, one message resonated across all speakers: AI is not about doing more with less, it’s about doing better with the resources already in place.
By offloading routine calls, AI gives telecommunicators time to focus on emergencies. By structuring data collection, it reduces confusion. By improving transparency and training, it builds stronger, more resilient teams.
Whether you are a director, call-taker, dispatcher, or supervisor, the opportunity is clear, the technology is ready and built to support your people and your mission.
To learn more about how Prepared can help your agency manage non-emergency calls more effectively, schedule a demo.
