Fairfax County’s Department of Public Safety Communications (DPSC) has tested a new artificial intelligence system called ANET (Assisted Non-Emergency Triage) to handle some calls made to the county’s non-emergency line. The trial was limited in scope and did not affect 9-1-1 emergency calls, which continued to be answered by human operators.
The DPSC stated that more than 30 percent of calls to the non-emergency line in 2024 were for simple questions or information requests. These types of routine inquiries can take up time that trained dispatchers might otherwise spend on urgent situations. The goal of the AI system is to manage these routine calls so that human operators can focus on emergencies.
During the test, residents calling the non-emergency number could speak normally in either English or Spanish. The AI would assess their needs, provide direct assistance, connect them with the appropriate department, or send a text message with links for online reporting when applicable. If a situation was urgent or if the AI could not assist, callers had the option to speak with a human operator.
All data from these interactions remains within county systems and is not shared with public AI platforms.
“Calls to 9-1-1 for emergency services were not tested and were answered by human call takers.”
“This limited test only handled calls that didn’t need police, fire or EMS response. Think of questions about permits, noise complaints from last week, or asking which department handles a specific problem.”
