The future of the telecommunicator: How AI is changing dispatcher training

When a 911 call comes in, dispatchers do not get to choose the emergency, the caller or the conditions on the other end of the line. A routine request can be followed by a water rescue involving a panicked caller, loud background noise and responders who may be miles away.

Preparing dispatchers for that uncertainty has long required classroom instruction, observation and role-playing. At Benzie County Central Dispatch in Michigan, an AI-powered training simulator is adding another option: practice calls that change based on how the dispatcher responds.

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The next generation of dispatch training

For Benzie County Deputy Director Rachael Wilson, the value of AI-based training starts with a challenge familiar to many smaller communications centers: New hires need to prepare for calls they may never encounter during their initial training. Benzie County’s lower call volume does not mean those emergencies will not happen; it simply makes it harder to predict when a trainee will gain that experience.

“The possibility of getting these major calls is a real possibility,” Wilson said. “However, it’s not something we handle every single day.”

To help close that experience gap, the center began using ThisGen 911 in spring 2025 and incorporated it into the training of two new hires. Trainers can build scenarios around real locations in the county, then adjust the caller’s age, voice, demeanor and accent. They can also add background noise to make the exercise feel closer to the conditions of an actual 911 call.

“You can change the voice from a male teenager to an elderly female adult,” Wilson said. “You can even change the accents on there.”

Those details are only part of what makes the training different from a traditional role-playing exercise. The simulated caller responds to what the dispatcher says, which means the conversation can change depending on the questions asked and the way the dispatcher handles the call. A caller may become confused, argumentative or panicked, requiring the trainee to listen closely and adjust as the scenario unfolds.

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Building muscle memory before the call

Water rescue calls are one example of why Benzie County wanted a more flexible way to train.

With Lake Michigan and other bodies of water in the county, dispatchers may need to coordinate with local first responders, the U.S. Coast Guard or both, depending on the circumstances. The details may change, but the goal is to build the repetition that helps dispatchers fall back on their training when the pressure rises.

“It’s going to come down to muscle memory,” Wilson said, including “remembering what the policy says and what you should be doing.”

Before ThisGen 911, building that repetition often meant asking trainers to play the caller during role-playing exercises. During those exercises, the trainer had to take on the caller’s role while also guiding the trainee.

By taking over the caller’s role, Wilson said, the simulator “allows our trainers to not do so much of that and to focus on other areas of training.”

The simulator also gives trainers a clearer starting point for the conversation that follows. After each exercise, it generates a score, transcript and evaluation showing whether the dispatcher asked the required questions. Trainers can listen to the call, compare the results across multiple scenarios and identify areas that may need more attention.

“You’ve been missing these questions, you know, on X amount of calls,” Wilson said of the feedback a trainer could provide. “And then we can revisit it and try to figure out why they’re missing that question or if there’s a better way to maybe train on something.”

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Supporting new hires and experienced dispatchers

Wilson wants the simulator to become a consistent part of new-hire training instead of something trainers use only when a particular scenario comes to mind.

Her plan is to dedicate the final hour of each shift during the first phase of training to simulated calls. While the trainee practices asking required questions and working through different caller behaviors, the trainer can complete the daily observation report and then use the results to guide the next coaching session.

That structure fits the realities of a five-person communications center, where training a new dispatcher can take about nine months. Benzie County must prepare new hires to handle the full range of 911 calls, including times when staffing requires them to work alone.

“There’s a lot for a brand-new dispatcher to learn,” Wilson said. “And our center is unique in the way that we are small, so we not only have to train a 911 dispatcher to be able to do the job, but we also have to train them to do it solo.”

One new hire who used the simulator has since completed training and is now working independently, telling Wilson the program helped build her confidence and remains “a great tool.”

The simulator is also useful beyond new-hire training. When a dispatcher recently asked to practice inquiry calls the center rarely receives, Wilson built scenarios in ThisGen 911 that allowed the dispatcher to revisit agency policy and strengthen the muscle memory needed to handle those calls.

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Bringing dispatch into the classroom

The simulator has also given Benzie County a new way to explain the work of a 911 dispatcher outside the communications center.

During a recent high school public safety presentation, law enforcement and corrections personnel brought vehicles and equipment that gave students a hands-on look at their jobs. However, dispatching, Wilson said, is harder to demonstrate in a classroom.

“We can’t really bring our job anywhere to showcase it,” Wilson said.

ThisGen 911 changed that.

Wilson brought the simulator to the presentation and created age-appropriate calls that allowed students to experience the questions, decisions and caller behaviors dispatchers manage. In one scenario, the simulated caller repeatedly asked, “Can you get them here? Are they on their way?” The exercise gave Wilson an opportunity to explain that responders may already be en route while the dispatcher continues asking questions needed to support the response.

Because dispatchers often work outside the public eye, Wilson sees school programs, career fairs and community events as opportunities to show what happens on the other end of a 911 call and introduce more people to dispatch as a career.

“Anything that we can get the public talking about us,” Wilson said. “I feel like 911 isn’t thought of very often when you think of the first responder world.”

A tool, not a replacement

While the simulator has helped Benzie County bring dispatch into classrooms and community conversations, its primary value remains inside the communications center.

Wilson said dispatchers were receptive because the technology was introduced as support for their work, not a substitute for it: “It’s just a tool that we can use to help train.”

The program, she said, does not change who is responsible for the call.

Instead, it changes how much practice that person can have before the call arrives. That distinction is especially important in a small center where a dispatcher may eventually be expected to handle a shift alone.

Even with more opportunities to practice, Wilson knows no simulation can fully capture the experience of answering a live 911 call: “It’s AI, so it’s not real. But if I can try to simulate as much of a real environment for a brand-new dispatcher, I want to.”

That is where AI fits into Benzie County’s approach to the future of dispatch: giving dispatchers more ways to prepare for a job that will always require human judgment.

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