Minneapolis, Hennepin County dispatch centers unveil automatic 911 callback technology

Leaders from the Minneapolis and Hennepin County emergency communications and dispatch centers on Thursday unveiled a new technology to automatically call back abandoned 911 calls.

The new Automated Abandoned Call (AAC) system will be used effective immediately. The software helps the dispatch centers quickly answer and send resources. It also reduces the time dispatchers spend to manually call back abandoned calls.

Those who answer the redial will then have the option to continue a request for emergency assistance or state that an emergency response isn’t necessary.

Law enforcement says abandoned 911 calls are a growing problem for dispatch centers nationwide. Most abandoned 911 calls are unintentional and caused by pocket dials, but confirming that is time- and labor-intensive.

For reference, the Minneapolis Emergency Communications Center took 50,000 calls last year in which a caller hung up in less than 30 seconds.