Butler County 911 dispatch center previews new video call technology
BUTLER, Pa. (KDKA) — 911 callers will have a new feature that is expected to revolutionize the way first responders deal with life-and-death situations. A new update to the Apple iOS software will allow 911 centers to actually see emergency situations.
KDKA-TV was given an exclusive look inside the Bulter County 911 center, where a complete gamer changer is going down, not only for the call centers but also on Apple iPhones.
Center director Rob McLafferty explained to KDKA-TV how this new tool works, using his iPhone to demonstrate. He dialed 911 normally and call center operator Shawn Smith answered.
"Now what's happened though, Shawn now has a link below that says live video. He's gonna click on that live video. That's gonna send me a message and it says 'am I willing to share my live video?' I share that live video with Shawn," McLafferty explained.
It means if you're at the scene of a car accident or fire or shooting, 911 can see what you're seeing.
This feature is free and available for Apple iPhone 14, or newer models. It went live on Monday as part of the iOS 18 software update and has been made available for emergency call centers across the country through the intelligent safety platform RapidSOS, which is used by 5,700+ agencies covering 99% of the U.S. population.
"Being able to utilize live video will not only enhance the life-saving work that emergency responders and 911 do, but also significantly boosts public safety by ensuring critical situations are managed with greater accuracy and efficiency. This feature allows us to close the safety gap between the caller in an emergency and 911 to paint the full picture for emergency responders," said Loren Bolton, head of communications at RapidSOS. "Our goal is to always provide the best support and tools for first responders and 911. As a pioneer in the field, RapidSOS has worked hand in hand with the public safety industry to reinvent 911 from a traditional, voice-based system to a modern data network where first responders have all the information they need to save lives.".
It's a complete game changer as 911 operators, often former or current first responders themselves, can now see what you see and walk you through the next steps.
"Before, 911 was just word of mouth. You're taking what the caller is giving you, you're trying to process in your own brain, the same time you're processing the call to get it out to responders. Now we can see exactly what they're looking at," Smith said.
Live video and even recorded video and pictures can instantly be seen by dispatchers.
This is only Apple for now, but we're hearing that the roll out for Google or Android will come as recently as the end of this year.