Introduction

In spring 2023, the Pitkin County Regional Emergency Dispatch Center (PCREDC) in Aspen, Colorado, was struggling with dispatchers and call takers missing important details during radio transmissions and 911 calls, which was affecting the accuracy and efficiency of response times and creating a stressful work environment. They needed to improve the center’s ability to catch all the details regardless of the person on the other end of the line being difficult to hear or communicating unclearly.

They implemented Smart Response Technologies’ (SRT) trailblazing new AI cloud-based SaaS product, Delphini, primarily because of two patented features: (1) precise live radio and 911 call speech-to-text transcription, and (2) customized keyword highlighting to emphasize important words, terms, and phrases.

Brad Flanagan, PCREDC’s emergency operations manager, said,

Finally, someone has created a product that every dispatcher and call taker has needed for decades! The accuracy of this transcription feature is awesome and it’s boosting the confidence of our entire team. Furthermore, we use Delphini as a training tool in helping new dispatchers develop a radio ear. It’s been a great teaching asset and we’ve experienced a reduction in the learning curve.

After just six months, PCREDC dispatchers and call takers using Delphini daily demonstrated an 80% increase in transcription accuracy with less radio miscommunication and fewer requests to repeat transmissions, resulting in more precise dispatching and faster response times. The center’s better quality of overall 911 service is ultimately saving more lives and making communities safer.

“The future is here with Delphini! This new technology is the affordable resource every emergency call center should implement to improve accuracy and efficiency. It’s a matter of life and death,” said Flanagan. 

Customer’s Challenges
The Opportunity

As with any system that relies on a combination of technology and human activity, issues arise frequently, and emergency dispatch centers face a wide range of physical and mental challenges. Communication errors result from poor radio intelligibility and unreliable phone connections since most in-bound calls originate from cell phones. The address is not immediately known, there is often static on the line, and callers fade in and out.

The PCREDC, like many nationwide, had issues with dispatchers not catching all the important details when monitoring multiple channels. They struggled with delays, misunderstandings, and miscommunications, directly impacting the response time and accuracy of the first responders upon arrival at the scene. The dispatchers needed a transcription tool.

PCREDC was also constrained by older technology and had even attempted unsuccessfully to build their own transcription engine that would integrate with existing resources and prevent communication mistakes.

“Implementing transcription technology has always been a goal of mine and a personal priority for making the dispatcher’s job a little bit easier. I wanted to improve their accuracy, boost their confidence, and lessen burnout,” said Flanagan. 

Why Delphini Was Chosen

Simply put, Delphini solved a problem PCREDC had been trying to solve on their own. Delphini’s live radio and 911 call speech-to-text transcription providing written verification of what’s being heard by a dispatcher’s radio ear, combined with the technology’s customized keyword highlights alerting important words, terms, and phrases, is the solution they needed.

Delphini is a reliable, easy-to-use assistive AI cloud-based SaaS platform providing the dispatcher and call taker with improved observations leading to more job confidence, better decisions, and quicker actions on the highest priority incidents. PCREDC was pleased with how affordable and easy to implement Delphini is compared to other login recorders and appreciated that it can run simultaneously with other applications and platforms.

The Results

Brett Loeb, PCREDC’s 911 Division Chief and Communications Director, said, “It’s hard to believe that a decent live radio and call transcription product didn’t exist until now, and we’ve been talking about the need to have one for years. Implementing Delphini was one of the best decisions I ever made for our team. We are responding faster and smarter, so our communities are safer, and more lives are being saved.”

After just six months, PCREDC dispatchers and call takers using Delphini daily had an 80% transcription accuracy with less radio miscommunication and fewer requests to repeat transmissions, resulting in more precise dispatching and faster response times. Dispatchers can easily pull up the Comms Dashboard to access live transcription of police and fire radio traffic, see time stamps, and review past transcriptions simply, leading to a more efficient 911 service overall.

PCREDC Dispatcher Joseph Heredia said,

Delphini is making me a better dispatcher because I know I won’t miss something important. Even just one highlighted word gives me an idea of what’s occurring in the moment, so I am quicker with my response times, which is crucial in a life and death situation.

PCREDC Dispatcher Christopher McKinney said, “I think of Delphini as my partner on the job. I am less stressed knowing that the program is catching anything I miss and showing it to me in real time through the keyword highlights and transcription. And I have my personal time back. When I’m off the clock, I don’t spend time thinking about how I performed on the job, wondering if I missed anything crucial or responded correctly, etc. I’m more confident in what I’m doing so I actually look forward to going into work.”

As a teaching tool, Delphini is enabling PCREDC to train new dispatchers more effectively by helping them to develop a more precise radio ear. They appreciate the quickness of the playback feature and the protocol accountability.

“I appreciate that SRT can customize Delphini to meet our specific needs based on the transmissions to make ongoing improvements over time. We have been very pleased with the level of customer service and attention from our SRT team. They are easy to reach and take our feedback seriously, always responding to our needs in a timely manner,” said Flanigan.

Call-to-Action

For a free product demonstration and to find out more about Smart Response Technologies and Delphini, email info@smartresponsetech.com to schedule an appointment with one of SRT’s experts, or visit the website: Smart Response Technologies.

Customer Overview

Pitkin County Regional Emergency Dispatch Center

Aspen, CO 81611
Brett Loeb – 911 Division Chief and Communications Director
Brad Flanagan, MPA RPL ENP – Emergency Operations Manager
** Brad is also Co-Chair of the FutureThink Committee, NENA

Headquartered in Aspen, Colorado, the Pitkin County Regional Emergency Dispatch Center (PCREDC) is the 9-1-1 Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) for many municipalities, Fire Districts, and Emergency Medical Service agencies in the Roaring Fork Valley. They send first responders from these agencies to problems occurring anywhere from Independence Pass to Marble, from Mt. Sopris to Ruedi Reservoir. The PCREDC is staffed with 14 dispatchers and 3 supervisors, and operational 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. They receive as many as 200 calls per day during peak seasons.

Located in the heart of the White River National Forest, surrounded by the central Rocky Mountains, Pitkin County, Colorado is the 29th largest county in the state covering 975 square miles, including the communities of Aspen, Snowmass, Old Snowmass, Woody Creek, Meredith,

Thomasville, Redstone, and portions of the town of Basalt. Today, the county maintains 265 miles of roads and 24 bridges.

In 2023, the estimated population is 17,421 with a growth rate of 0.12% annually over the past decade. The median age is 45.9 and the median household income is $92,708. With respect to languages, 84.1% of residents speak only English, while 15.9% speak other languages.

(Source: https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-counties/co/pitkin-county-population)

Best known for its world-class ski resorts, tourism is the mainstay of the local economy with arts, cultural and recreational events providing a year-round attraction.

Company Overview

Smart Response Technologies (SRT) is a Veteran-owned small business headquartered in the Dayton, Ohio area creating assistive AI solutions for first responders’ biggest communication challenges. SRT works side-by-side with its customers and collaborates with other cloud native companies to enable more efficient, less stressful 911 workflows. When agencies are strapped for resources, trying to maintain quality of service can be difficult. SRT tackles these challenges with an affordable, resilient, and highly secure, cloud-based SaaS platform. The firm’s cognitive technology quickly activates with no impact to the existing public safety systems and serves as the smart way to support efficient use of resources. Smart Response Technologies

Product Overview

Derived from the Latin root for dolphin, the name Delphini is inspired by the collaborative nature of dolphins. These highly intelligent and conscientious sea animals look out for each other, traveling in pods with very efficient communication techniques to send important messages that ensure survival and security. Scientists believe each dolphin’s mother assigns it a unique signature whistle for identification.

Specially designed with dispatchers in mind, Delphini is an affordable ground-breaking AI subscription cloud-based SaaS platform that provides multiple channel monitoring using a simplified dashboard to deliver real-time updated information through live radio and 911 call speech-to-text transcription, customizable keyword highlights, and live mapping updates. Developed by SRT in cooperation with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base using a $5M federal investment, Delphini is the patented solution to miscommunication and missed communication, revolutionizing emergency call centers nationwide and eliminating some of the dispatcher stress and burnout.

The platform is proven to increase audio comprehension by 70% and communications effectiveness by 55%, while enhancing accuracy in transcribing and improving the efficiency and timeliness of coordinated responses. As a result, dispatchers gain confidence and competency, which helps to dramatically reduce stress and burnout on the job.

SRT has the exclusive commercial licensing rights to Delphini and markets the product to command & control centers, correction facilities, event management, and courthouse, corporate, and campus security.

Product Features

Delphini is a reliable, easy-to-use assistive AI cloud-based SaaS platform that displays on consoles, tablets, and smartphones, providing the emergency call taker with improved observations leading to more job confidence, better decisions, and quicker actions on the highest priority incidents that shorten response times resulting in the saving of more lives. The patented product features are:

Customizable Keyword Highlights – alerts priority words, terms, and phrases

Live Radio and 911 Call Speech-to-Text Transcription – in both English and Spanish

Multiple Channel Monitoring at once – uses a simplified dashboard

3D Spatial Audio – increases comprehension

Pinpointing – identifies specific location of the incident

Live Mapping Updates – streamlines troubleshooting and management operations

Flag Lines – enables adding of notes for later review

Playback – enables review of past transmissions

Data Rich Symbols – verifies and enhances verbal data

Working in unison, these unique features are eliminating missed communication and miscommunication at emergency dispatch centers nationwide, while helping to solve many of the physical and mental challenges call takers incur on the job.

Implementing Delphini

Delphini is user-friendly and takes approximately one week on average to come up to speed.

The implementation for PCREDC was simple. Delphini does not require a software download or special hardware adjustments. It is a cloud-based platform with easy access using a login and password, and it works cooperatively with existing SaaS platforms already installed or available on the call center’s systems.

Once Delphini was initiated at PCREDC, SRT experts provided access to online video training tutorials and collaborated directly with management through video chats and conference calls to set up their custom keywords and phrases in the live speech-to-text transcription feature. Additionally, SRT provided one-on-one guidance for dispatchers as needed and followed up regularly to answer any questions.

To maintain quality control and ensure call centers are optimizing Delphini’s features, SRT schedules virtual training seminars frequently.