APCO announces APCO Intellicom software, powered by IBM Watson technologies

DENVER—The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) yesterday announced APCO Intellicom, new guide-card software that will leverage IBM Watson Speech-to-Text and IBM Watson Analytics technologies to enhance 911 quality-assurance efforts within public-safety answering points (PSAPs).

“Watson has revolutionized industry after industry around the world with its cognitive-computing capabilities that change the way that businesses harness, analyze and use vast amounts of data,” APCO Executive Director and CEO Derek Poarch said during Monday’s opening session of the APCO 2017 event. “Through a partnership between APCO International and IBM, Watson will soon fundamentally change the field of public-safety communications.”

National standards require that a certain percentage of these calls be evaluated, but that percentage is small, according to an APCO press release. With APCO Intellicom powered by Watson Analytics, PSAPs will be able to  “far exceed those professional standards on quality-assurance case reviews through a dynamic and cognitive process,” the press release states.

APCO’s Intellicom “a groundbreaking new product that will transform the way that PSAPs do business,” Poarch said.

 “This next-generation, criteria-based guide-card software will bring the power of Watson to PSAPs,” Poarch said during the opening session. “The software will optimize how you use the vast amount of data that you rely on to do your jobs and save lives. APCO Intellicom will facilitate data-driven decision making and enable PSAPs to enhance quality-assurance efforts in call-taking and dispatching.”

Bill Josko, IBM’s GBS public-safety practice leader for the U.S., echoed this sentiment.

“This augmented call-taking and reporting will better inform directors on how the actual conversations between callers and telecommunicators unfold, which may allow agencies to iteratively modify training materials to better meet callers’ needs,” Josko said in a prepared statement. “And, since Watson is able to understand and learn more context overtime through machine learning, it can also help to reduce call times, provide accurate triage information, and help expedite time sensitive emergency services.”

APCO 2017 attendees can see demonstrations of APCO Intellicom today in the exhibit hall. More information about the solution is available at Booth 717, Poarch said.