Motorola unveils AI Assist Suites for 911 responders

Motorola Solutions has launched Assist Suites, a portfolio of role-based artificial intelligence systems for public safety agencies and emergency responders.

The company said the products draw on multiple sources of information held across an agency. These include 911 audio, body-worn and in-car camera footage, and radio transcripts. Assist Suites presents information as a single thread for use across roles.

Motorola Solutions said the initial focus is on the US 911 system. The company said it plans to extend the offering worldwide.

Two suites

Motorola Solutions has positioned the portfolio around two main groups of users. The Dispatcher Assist Suite targets 911 call handling, dispatch and coordination. The Responder Assist Suite targets field responders and report writing.

Motorola Solutions said the product design reflects differences between call centres and field operations. It said it plans to add more suites this year for other public safety and enterprise security roles.

The company tied the launch to workload pressures in emergency services. It cited research that nearly half of a 911 call handler's time goes on verifying information. It also cited research that officers spend about 40 per cent of their shift on administrative tasks rather than in the community.

Motorola Solutions also cited research that 40 per cent of 911 calls suffer from inefficient information exchange between roles.

Dispatcher tools

Motorola Solutions said the Dispatcher Assist Suite provides real-time transcription and translation during calls. It said language barriers can add an average of 70 seconds to a 911 call.

The company said the suite can highlight keywords, including "gun" and "heart attack". It said the system can suggest immediate actions for call handlers. It positioned these functions as a way to keep call handlers focused on response management rather than data entry.

Motorola Solutions said the suite can also automate triage for non-emergency calls. It said non-emergency traffic can account for 65 per cent of call handlers' workloads in some regions.

Florida's Sumter County has used the tools in its emergency call environment.

"Real-time transcription and call summary give telecommunicators the important parts of the 911 call in real-time to send to responders," said Stephen Kennedy, Assistant County Administrator, Board of Sumter County Commissioners, Florida.

"They aren't losing anything, and they don't have to lose time checking the details; it's right in front of them," said Kennedy.

Responder tools

Motorola Solutions said the Responder Assist Suite focuses on situational awareness and documentation. The company cited research that 50 per cent of officers say incident details received while travelling to a call differ from what they find on arrival.

Motorola Solutions said the suite generates a consolidated view of information from multiple sources before responders arrive. It also said the system allows voice-activated queries against agency data during an incident.

The company said the suite can tag evidence automatically and redact sensitive subjects and objects. It said these functions relate to records handling and privacy.

A key feature in the Responder Assist Suite is a report-writing tool called Narrative Assist. Motorola Solutions said Narrative Assist cross-references an officer's first-hand account against multiple sources of incident data. It said the tool highlights discrepancies for an officer's review. It also said the system maintains an audit log of AI suggestions.

Motorola Solutions positioned the approach as human-led oversight rather than full automation.

"In public safety, time can be the difference between a successful outcome and a tragedy. Assist saves time and time saves lives. We're focused on delivering the real value of AI through personalised suites that support the specific needs of each emergency responder. Assist seamlessly transitions intelligence from one person to the next to improve accuracy, speed and safety," said Mahesh Saptharishi, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Motorola Solutions.

Motorola Solutions said officers identify report writing as a major administrative burden. It cited research that about 70 per cent of officers see report writing as a significant challenge where AI could play a role.

A Minnesota police department has used the report writing and redaction functions described in the Responder Assist Suite.

"Motorola Solutions has helped us step into modern policing and made our department a lot more efficient, easily saving us up to 40 hours a week with these AI technologies," said Michael Sellner, Police Sergeant, White Bear Lake Police Department.

"We've seen Narrative Assist cut report writing time from an hour down to 15 minutes and Redaction Assist drop video redaction time from 35 hours to just one. The AI features in Motorola Solutions' Responder Assist Suite allow our officers to stop staring at screens and get back to proactive policing," said Sellner.

Commercial model

Motorola Solutions said agencies can buy Assist Suites on a per-user, per-month basis. It said departments can assign tools by role. The company said features can be enabled quickly as part of deployment planning.

Motorola Solutions said additional suites will follow this year as it extends the role-based approach across more public safety and enterprise security jobs.