Virginia Beach Non-Emergency Line to Get Help With AI-Powered Amazon Connect

This is how Emergency Communications & Citizen Services Director Jada Lee explains the City’s non-emergency line call volume: It’s always busy. Not only is the non-emergency line, (757) 385-5000, dialed for various calls for services, but it is also utilized by the public to reach VB911 for emergencies outside of Virginia Beach city limits. 

Lee said there are no specific types of incidents or events that make the call volume spike, just that calls received tend to be more complex in nature. This makes the call processing time longer than calls received on 911. 

ECCS will soon debut a new non-emergency call routing system, Amazon Connect, that will handle calls quickly and reduce the amount of time VB911 agents spend on the phone with non-emergency and informational calls. 

The artificial intelligence-powered service will free up live agents to focus on emergencies, especially during high call volume times. 

A Little Help from AI 

Amazon Connect, the same technology that powers your Alexa device, will provide verbal assistance to residents calling non-emergency, transforming how those calls are handled by the VB911 call center.

The service uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to assist in responding to residents’ questions. It is managed by the call center, so information provided by the system comes directly from trusted VB911 and VB311 sources. 

The system will speak to a caller and ask them how it can be of assistance. Based on the response, it can provide callers with links to information and services provided by the City and easily connect them to a live agent whenever needed. As more residents interact with the system, it will “learn” based on keywords provided and will refine its answers over time to deliver the most accurate information possible. 

Improving Our City 

ECCS is undergoing a multiphase technology upgrade to its 911 system in the next few months. This upgrade includes new tools, such as Amazon Connect, that will make VB911 services faster, reliable and more efficient. 

“We are excited to modernize and improve the resiliency of the City of Virginia Beach’s 911 network. These upgrades allow VB911 agents to accurately and instantaneously route emergency calls,” Lee said. “Using Amazon Connect for non-emergency calls will allow 911 dispatchers to focus on emergencies, reduce wait times on the phone and drive more efficiency to emergency responses.” 

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ECCS provides efficient, accurate, professional processing of emergency, non-emergency, and information requests to residents and visitors to Virginia Beach 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Visit eccs.virginiabeach.gov for more information on VB911, VB311 and VBAlert.