About
PenCom is a consolidated PSAP serving the city of Port Angeles, WA and several surrounding agencies. Operating since 1991, PenCom dispatches for law enforcement, fire, and EMS across the region.
Challenge
Non-Emergency Call Volume Overwhelmed Dispatcher Operations
Under Deputy Director Karl Hatton, a 40-year emergency communications veteran, PenCom built a reputation for dedicated emergency response.
But after several experienced team members retired, an industry-wide staffing shortage slowed recruitment—leaving PenCom at only half of their ideal staffing level. To keep operations running smoothly, Karl often worked full-time in dispatch in addition to his regular administrative duties.
At the same time, the center had become the default point of contact for a range of local agencies, including jail operations and municipal administration. Informational and business calls accounted for 180,000 of PenCom’s yearly inquiries—on top of their 70,000 annual emergency calls.
“Most non-emergency calls have nothing to do with us,” Karl explains. “They could be anything, like general requests, someone who wants to talk to a prosecutor, or a person calling about a local inmate.”
Most of these inquiries took several minutes to complete. And in the event of emergencies or radio traffic, dispatchers were forced to put these callers on hold to manage priorities. Over time, frequent interruptions made it harder to provide attentive and timely service to routine callers. And for PenCom’s staff, this task-switching between emergencies and repetitive questions meant extra mental strain, adding to the risk of burnout across the team.
To reduce that pressure, Karl explored several internal adjustments. He started by routing non-emergency calls through informational menus before callers reached dispatchers. Then, Karl encouraged officers to self-assign lower-priority calls from their mobile data terminals, enabling them to reduce unnecessary radio traffic. While these efforts helped, routine questions continued to flood the dispatch floor, especially during peak call periods like holidays.
Recruitment efforts continued in the meantime, but onboarding required months of intensive training. Karl needed a faster, more scalable solution—and ideally, one that could help PenCom automate routine call response.
Soon, Karl discovered Aurelian’s AI voice automation platform through his professional network. After seeing a nearby dispatch center successfully roll out the solution, he was eager to try it himself.
Solution
Automated Call Processing Restores Full Focus to Emergency Response
Over a two-week onboarding period, Aurelian’s team customized PenCom’s routine call workflows based on call types, common requests, outside agency requirements, and internal dispatch protocols.
From there, Aurelian refined every question the AI agent should ask, what information it should collect from callers, and when calls should be escalated to dispatchers for additional support.
Aurelian now answers all of PenCom’s routine calls with conversational AI. Like a live dispatcher, the system asks questions and gathers key information in real time. Unlike phone trees that route callers through rigid menus and still require dispatcher pickup, Aurelian handles conversations naturally from start to finish, processing calls without putting anyone on hold.
The system also adapts to PenCom’s wide range of request types. For simple inquiries, like parking information or jail visiting hours, Aurelian provides answers automatically, eliminating unnecessary calls from dispatcher queues. For calls requiring an officer response, like noise complaints and suspicious activity reports, Aurelian collects caller information, incident details, and location data. Then, dispatchers receive a text summary through their CAD system.
As dispatchers have capacity, they review these summaries and create calls for service. “We’re still touching all of those day-to-day calls,” Karl explains. “We’re just responding on our own timeline.”
This asynchronous workflow eliminates the constant context-switching that once strained the team. By reducing repetitive interruptions, dispatchers can sustain clarity and stamina over long, high-stakes shifts. Meanwhile, every routine caller receives complete, attentive service without being put on hold.
And that impact carries through the busiest periods of the year. During the recent July 4th holiday, for example, Aurelian enabled dispatchers to manage the predictable increase in emergency fire incidents with minimal interruption.
At the same time, Aurelian automatically handled the typical surge in firework complaints—collecting information, routing requests through appropriate workflows, and resolving calls without dispatcher involvement. Instead of juggling repetitive calls alongside active emergencies, dispatchers stayed locked in on emergency and priority response.
Results
PenCom Resolves 70% of Non-Emergency Calls Automatically
By stabilizing routine call handling, PenCom has restored the team’s full attention to their core mission and strength—coordinating emergency response. Since deploying Aurelian, PenCom has seen:
Looking ahead, Karl plans to continue his partnership with Aurelian even after reaching full staff capacity, using the platform’s automation as a long-term support layer.
PenCom is also exploring expansion to partner agencies, which would allow Aurelian to handle additional non-emergency business lines beyond the primary 911 center.
