HAMBURG, N.Y. — Hamburg emergency dispatchers, like most across the country, have only ever been able to hear what’s taking place on the other end of a 911 call.
But through a pilot program the center is taking part in, they’re now able to see it too.
The Town of Hamburg Public Safety Dispatch Center became the first Erie County municipality to use video technology for 911 calls as a part of a new software it’s testing called “Prepared Live.”
The program, which Hamburg started using in December, allows dispatchers to send a link to a caller’s phone, which can allow them to share video or photos from the scene of the incident.
“That allows us to interact with them via text message as well as sending multimedia so it could either be video, or it could be still shots or pictures from their gallery from their phone,” Hamburg Emergency Manager Sean Crotty said.
2 On Your Side was given an exclusive look at the software in action and had the chance to test it out firsthand.
Callers can also choose which content to share. The dispatch center will only have access to what they are permitted to view.
Those who have used the software have said they’re already seeing significant advantages.
“It affords us the opportunity to remove ourselves from the dispatch center and see what they're seeing,” Crotty said. “They may see things that they may think are inconsequential, but we know that it's important.”
The program has been in place for almost two months and will run until late March. Then, the county will decide if it wants to adopt the program countywide.
Those in Hamburg said they would support the decision to do so.
“I think anytime we can embrace technology to make our jobs more efficient and provide a better service to our citizens, we should probably look at that,” said Todd Ehert, who oversees the responding officers.