The Denver Police Department's human-powered non-emergency phone line (720-913-2000) is receiving an upgrade at the end of June, Mayor Mike Johnston announced on Tuesday.
The city's goals: "Improve customer experience, reduce call volume on the non-emergency line, and free up call takers to answer more calls."
The new system will include a "smart interactive voice response system." In other words, when you call the line, instead of talking to a person, you'll reach an automated system.
Chatting with a non-human, you'll be sent to the right city agency, individual or info.
“Deploying this enhanced technology will help us shorten wait times while ensuring callers are quickly connected to the right resource,” said Mayor Mike Johnston, in a statement.
This is not going to be applied to 911, where humans will still answer the phone.
“Public safety starts with the calls we receive to 9-1-1 and our non-emergency line,” said Executive Director of Public Safety Armando Saldate in a statement. “This is another innovative tool for our call takers to better serve our communities and ensure that callers can access public safety services when they need them.”
The non-emergency line has seen massive traffic.
In 2023, alone, the call takers received nearly a million calls.
Many of those weren't for the Department of Public Safety and did not require either police or other non-emergency responders.
The new system should send people to the right agency to begin with and cut back time for the Department of Public Safety call takers, who will still be there to answer appropriate calls.
Each call will be documented, and the data collected will be used to improve the smart call system. The city noted information, outside of what is typically collected by the city, will not be tracked.
After this is implemented, 311 will also get an overhaul to use similar technology.
“Providing Denverites with a better and more efficient way to access services is a key part of our commitment to delivering great government,” Johnston said.
