{"id":12305,"date":"2026-03-12T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/911-technology-in-durango-is-going-digital\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:32:43","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:32:43","slug":"911-technology-in-durango-is-going-digital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/911-technology-in-durango-is-going-digital\/","title":{"rendered":"911 technology in Durango is going digital"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Durango
Durango Emergency Communications Center is in the process of adopting Next Generation 911 technology. It represents a countrywide shift from analog to digital emergency communications infrastructure. (Durango Herald file)<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Many localities across the country are modernizing their 911 infrastructure, and Durango is among them.<\/p>\n

Durango Emergency Communications Director Kati Fox said at Tuesday\u2019s City Council meeting that the center is in the process of adopting Next Generation 911 \u2012 NG911 for short \u2012 technology.<\/p>\n

According to the National 911 Program<\/a>, NG911 is a digital internet Protocol-based system that will replace analog infrastructure countrywide.<\/p>\n

Fox said NG911 offers functions that enhance 911 services by providing the following:<\/p>\n

Multimedia information sharing in both directions.Real-time location determination.Smarter routing.Stronger security.Interoperability<\/div>\n

One of the most \u201csalient\u201d examples of NG911 capabilities is the option for callers to share live video with dispatchers, Fox said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLong gone are rotary phones, paper-based processes and basic radio systems,\u201d she said. \u201cWe now live in a world of smart technology, shared radio networks and automated public safety systems \u2012 all of which support quick, coordinated response.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said public expectations of service have risen as technology has changed. People expect faster and more accurate emergency services.<\/p>\n

The 911 center in Durango is in the process of updating its 911 phone system for NG911 capabilities. Fox said it\u2019s working closely with Durango Fire Protection District in adopting a Phoenix Station Alerting System \u2012 an automated dispatch system \u2012 to reduce response times, and is integrating artificial intelligence tools for training processes and interoperability between departments.<\/p>\n

She said dispatch times, incident reviews and resident feedback will guide the 911 center\u2019s integration of technology.<\/p>\n

Functions like live video sharing with 911 dispatchers will not be integrated without checks and balances, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis functionality will be enabled only when policies, training and governance \u2012 including legal review, access control, retention parameters and clear-use boundaries \u2012 are in place,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

If technology is used and doesn\u2019t end up improving service, supporting 911 staff or otherwise work within the 911 center\u2019s standards, the center won\u2019t continue to use it, she said.<\/p>\n

Some city councilors said they are worried about emergency dispatchers being replaced with AI dispatchers. Fox said that doesn\u2019t appear to be happening anytime soon.<\/p>\n

\u201c911 calls can be really chaotic. Information comes in with a lot of background noise sometimes. The industry isn\u2019t there yet for emergency services calls,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

AI phone operators are a real possibility for nonemergency calls \u2012 complaints about barking dogs or a parked car blocking someone\u2019s driveway \u2012 but not 911 calls, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad we\u2019re not there yet,\u201d Councilor Shirley Gonzales said. \u201cI\u2019m afraid that we may be sooner than we (think).\u201d<\/p>\n

Fox said 911 dispatch is a \u201ccomplex, high priority, high urgency job\u201d and she has not seen the 911 industry adopt any AI use for dispatcher-to-responders during emergency calls.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur aim is to be a conscientious adopter. My team identified where we want to head as an agency, which is innovation, collaboration with our client agencies, understanding their needs, and providing these services to the community and our first responders at a deeper, more broad level than we have in the past,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Mayor Gilda Yazzie said if she calls 911, she wants to speak with a real person.<\/p>\n

Fox said that\u2019s why 911 dispatchers aren\u2019t being replaced by AI.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are calling us when they\u2019re in distress, when they\u2019re in crisis, in life or death situations. I believe that\u2019s a big part of why automated 911 call-taking is really not in the industry in the way that it is for an administrative line, because that human touch is important in emergencies,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

cburney@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Emergency communications director says AI isn\u2019t replacing dispatchers any time soon<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12306,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1020,971,28,52,994],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-12305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-durango-city-council","tag-emergency-planning","tag-headlines","tag-law-enforcement","tag-trueanthem"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12305"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12305\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18634,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12305\/revisions\/18634"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12305"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=12305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}