New tech for Tulsa dispatchers can connect you with help sooner

New technology at the City of Tulsa 911 center helped dispatchers and Tulsa Police officers find a missing teenager with autism in a matter of minutes.

The new system is called Prepared 911 and gives 911 callers the ability to send pictures, videos, and live streams from a scene. The system also transcribes 911 calls, provides a summary and can translate into 33 different languages.

How Prepared 911 will make a difference for Tulsa dispatchers

Dispatchers have had to rely on only their ears for decades and they only knew what the caller told them. Now, they can see what the 911 caller sees as it's happening.

Alexandra Tsabadze has been taking calls as a City of Tulsa 911 dispatcher for a month and a half and says she chose this job to help people.

"Just like the middle man, and I liked that idea to be the middle man to help people on their hardest day,” said Tsabadze.

Dispatchers are the lifeline when people need help, and Tsabadze says her job is to listen, stay calm, and send help. Prepared 911 gives her new tools to do that.

If someone is having an emergency and calls 911, the dispatcher can send the caller a link on their phone, and the caller clicks that and can live stream with dispatch. This gives dispatchers the ability to see what is going on so they know what resources and how many to send.

How Prepared 911 helped locate a missing Tulsa teen

Last month, a teenage boy with autism went missing in Tulsa and a woman called 911, and Tsabadze took the call.

"She was telling me, she goes I saw on Tulsa Police that there was a missing boy with autism, I think I found him. I think this is him but I'm not sure,” said Tsabadze.

Tsabadze sent the woman a link, the woman then sent back pictures of the boy and within minutes Tulsa Police were there.

"I want to say it was within six minutes on the call, the officer put out, okay I have the boy in the car with me, we are good," said Tsabadze.

Translation and other game-changing tools

The system also transcribes every 911 call and gives dispatchers a summary and can translate in 33 different languages.

"If the caller is Spanish speaking, it will allow for the caller to speak in Spanish and it will have a translation voice that will come back to the caller,” Belinda McGhie, the City of Tulsa 911 Director.

McGhie says this technology will be a game changer and should help cut response times down.

"I think it's going to improve the way we respond. I believe that. And I think it's, those are the benefits of an application, system or tool such as this."

The Prepared 911 system is also integrated with the city's Real Time Information Center. Dispatchers can also send people a link to file online reports or connect them with other services.

Police officers will soon be able to hear and see the 911 calls, so they can get a head start toward an emergency before being dispatched.