San Francisco is a mecca for tourists along the West Coast. The city is famous for attractions like the Golden Gate Bridge and Lombard Street. But, like most cities across the country, San Francisco has to look at innovative ways to keep the public safe within city limits. (I mean, San Francisco is prone to earthquakes and fires, among other potential hazards.)
So, when it comes to public safety in San Francisco, the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management, or SFDEM, is the city agency responsible for coordinating efforts to prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies and disasters. SFDEM serves as the central hub for emergency management, uniting various city departments, first responders, community organizations and regional partners in crisis situations.
A key function of SFDEM is operating the city's Emergency Operations Center, or EOC, which is activated during major incidents to streamline communication and resource allocation. The department also oversees the 911 dispatch system.
The city’s dispatch center is one of the top 25 busiest in the U.S. and handles over 1 million emergency calls annually. Because of the volume of calls, the city felt it was time to upgrade to NICE’s advanced capabilities.
As we know, NICE is a provider of AI-powered self-service and agent-assisted CX software for the contact center. When it comes to public safety and justice, NICE has over 3,000 customers and three decades of experience.
NICE helps all types of public safety and criminal justice agencies (from emergency communications and law enforcement to prosecutors and courts) digitally transform how they manage digital evidence and data from beginning to end, to get to the truth faster.
In the case of San Francisco, the city chose NICE Inform Elite, one of the solutions in NICE’s Evidencentral platform, to boost services for residents, first responders and partner agencies.
Operated by the San Francisco DEM, San Francisco’s newly renovated 911 dispatch center is a link between the public and first responders. The center handles emergency calls related to police, fire and EMS. The center is dedicated to meeting response time goals and is continuously seeking innovative solutions to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of its highly skilled telecommunicators.
NICE Inform Elite comes with the ability to automate the 911 Quality Assurance, or QA, review process. Its integration with Computer Aided Dispatch, or CAD, helps the center target specific types of high acuity calls, for example cardiac or domestic violence calls, for automatic QA review.
The system can also be configured to automatically pull calls that took excessively long to enter or dispatch. This means that managers can review and analyze calls promptly and provide constructive feedback. NICE Inform Elite also frees up managers' time to allow them to focus on supporting, coaching and training staff.
“NICE is excited to build on our nearly two-decade-long relationship with the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management with these latest upgrades and enhancements,” said Chris Wooten, Executive Vice President, NICE. “When 911 calls come in, lives quite literally are on the line. Our solutions unlock the truth from interactions, so 911 centers can get call handling right, every time.”
Additionally, NICE Inform Elite will benefit the staff of the San Francisco DEM's Custodian of Records who manage over 15,000 evidence and FOIA requests from attorneys and citizens annually. With its integration with CAD, NICE Inform Elite will automate this process to save significant time. Records custodians will enter a CAD incident ID number to promptly retrieve and compile all 911 calls, radio traffic and multimedia data related to an incident.
“For DEM to provide the best possible emergency services to San Francisco, we need to excel in how quickly and effectively we respond,” said Michelle Geddes, Chief Information Officer, San Francisco DEM. “NICE is going to enable us to support first responders during an emergency response swiftly and accurately. NICE also helps DEM partner agencies in the criminal justice process who rely on us for incident reproductions and evidence.”
The expanded partnership is proof that both NICE and San Francisco are committed to helping the San Francisco DEM in its mission to provide the highest levels of emergency services to residents.
Edited by
Alex Passett
