From the Emergency Services edition of September 22, 2026
NTIA AI-Driven Transformation in 9-1-1 Operations: Jeffcom and Monterey measured non-emergency reductions; national standards still missing
National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) · Federal government / emergency communications policy · United States (national landscape; Colorado and California case sites)
- Publisher
- NTIA
- Original publication
- 2025-11-17
- Source retrieved
- 2026-09-23
What happened
NTIA’s national landscape analysis (AI symposium, four site visits, 14 interviews) reports early operational gains from AI in 9-1-1 centers alongside structural barriers. Jeffcom 911 saw an initial ~40% year-over-year administrative-call reduction that stabilized at a sustained 33%, with ≥5% improvement in 9-1-1 calls answered within 15 seconds. Monterey County ECD’s AI answering system reduced non-emergency volume by about 36% on average (peak ~39% late 2024), resolving over 100 non-emergency calls per typical day without human intervention; training retention rose from 43% to 67% across compared academy cohorts still in progress. OPCD duplicate-MVA triage averages >40 events/day and up to ~40 seconds faster answer times for other callers. NTIA simultaneously flags rigid procurement, lack of national standards, vendor lock-in, cybersecurity needs, and equity risk for smaller centers, calling for voluntary HITL standards, open APIs, model RFPs, and shared cybersecurity models.
Why it matters
Primary U.S. federal synthesis of PSAP AI benefits and controls for emergency-services leaders. Newly actionable on 2026-09-22 as agencies such as Colorado Springs launch non-emergency AI while measured baselines and NTIA’s standards gap remain the best public national reference not previously archived in this stream.
Evidence and measured results
PDF opened via curl and pdftotext. Metrics attributed to named centers (Jeffcom, Monterey ECD, OPCD) from NTIA’s site visits/interviews—not a randomized evaluation. Retention comparison notes academies still in progress. Barriers and recommended national actions are NTIA policy findings.
Limitations and uncertainty
White paper dated 2025; site-reported operational metrics are not independently audited in the document. Anticipated life-saving outcome language is forward-looking. Monterey retention comparison is early/incomplete. International transferability limited to similar PSAP governance contexts.
Put this evidence to work
Lighthouse Advisory interpretation, grounded in this source. Enriched 2026-09-22; this does not change the original publication date. Each role follows the same checklist so takeaways compare across sources.
Sales
Role takeaway
- Customer problem
- Centers face rising volume and staffing shortages but lack trusted benchmarks and procurement paths for AI.
- Stakeholders
- 9-1-1 directors
- County/city executives
- State 911 boards
- APCO/NENA stakeholders
- Cybersecurity officers
- Discovery questions
- Which NTIA use case matches your biggest load?
- Do you have flexible procurement for modular AI?
- What answer-time and administrative-call baselines exist?
- How will small neighboring centers be included?
- Value hypothesis
- AI can cut non-emergency load and protect 911 answer times when paired with HITL standards and flexible procurement—as early adopters reported to NTIA.
- Potential engagement
- NTIA-aligned readiness and KPI workshop plus pilot scoping for one use case (e.g., non-emergency diversion).
- Unsupported claims
- Jeffcom/Monterey percentages guaranteed for every agency
- Independent RCT proof of lives saved
- Standards already exist nationally
Pre-sales engineering
Role takeaway
- Fit
- Modular AI services (non-emergency IVR/agent, ASR/translation, QA, duplicate triage) on cloud-capable NG9-1-1 paths with open APIs.
- Architecture and integration
- Integrate via open APIs to CAD/telephony; design LLM/model failover; embed continuous cyber monitoring; avoid proprietary dead-ends.
- Prerequisites
- Baseline volume/answer-time data
- Recording/retention policies
- Staff pilot participation
- Cyber control baseline
- Constraints
- Rigid procurement
- Vendor lock-in
- Aging platforms
- Small-center resource limits
- Security
- Apply NTIA-called cybersecurity safeguards and shared-service models for sensitive call data.
- Proof of value
- Local administrative-call reduction measurement
- 911 answer-within-15s delta
- Failover drill success
- Staff inclusion survey
Delivery
Role takeaway
- Work
- Pilot one AI use case, stand up KPI dashboards, rewrite RFP language, and run telecommunicator training with HITL playbooks.
- Dependencies
- Procurement counsel
- CAD/telephony vendors
- State 911 office
- Cyber team
- Association training content
- Ownership
- 9-1-1 center director owns outcomes; IT/security own controls; elected board owns funding equity decisions.
- Skills and adoption
- Early telecommunicator involvement and immersive training; avoid tools that feel punitive.
- Governance checkpoints
- Pilot HITL rules approved
- Cyber review passed
- KPI definitions published
- Scale-gate after 90 days
- Acceptance criteria
- Agreed KPIs met or honest miss documented
- Failover tested
- Open-API/exit terms in contract
- Risks
- Replicating metrics without local baselines
- Lock-in contracts
- Leaving small centers behind
Implementation considerations
Lighthouse Advisory interpretation across the operating dimensions a public-sector buyer must settle before this evidence becomes a design. Each note answers the question under its heading for this specific source.
Architecture and integration
What must connect, and where does the AI sit in the workflow?
Favor modular AI tools with open APIs, cloud-native resilience, explicit failover for model failures, and cybersecurity continuous monitoring. Separate non-emergency automation, transcription/translation, QA/training, and duplicate-call triage as distinct integration patterns with human escalation rules.
Governance
Who approves, reviews and stays accountable for outcomes?
Pursue voluntary national frameworks for transparency, explainability, human-in-the-loop safeguards, SLAs/KPIs, and acceptable failover parameters. Involve telecommunicators early; use association (APCO/NENA) education pathways. Treat small-center equity as a first-order design constraint.
Security and privacy
What data, permissions and controls need testing?
NTIA emphasizes robust cybersecurity controls and continuous monitoring for sensitive 9-1-1 data, shared-service security models, and caution about proprietary lock-in that impedes safe information sharing.
Accessibility and workforce
Who is affected, and what skills or accommodations follow?
AI training/QA tools associated with higher trainee retention in Monterey’s early academy comparison; translation/transcription cited as workforce supports. Equity risk if only well-resourced centers can buy tools.
Procurement
What should contracts, pricing and exit terms secure?
NTIA urges model RFPs, cooperative purchasing, subscription/managed-service vehicles, and sole-source lessons from Monterey—paired with anti-lock-in open API expectations.
Operating model
Which teams own the service once it runs?
Shift telecommunicators from administrative load toward high-acuity work; institutionalize HITL, QA, and national benchmarking rather than one-off vendor pilots.
Publication history
- 2026-09-22Emergency Services · Issue 175 resources
Stable resource ID: ntia-ai-911-operations-white-paper-2025