Volusia County to Expand Technology Available to 911 Dispatchers

Posted On: October 6, 2026

Volusia County is expanding the technology available to 911 call takers, adding tools and information to support emergency assessment and coordination of public safety responses.

The Volusia County Council on Tuesday, Oct. 6, authorized the County to move forward with additional technology and tools for Volusia Sheriff’s Office 911 dispatchers handling medical, fire, and law enforcement emergencies. The Priority Dispatch System will provide standardized protocols and additional technology to support call takers as they assess an emergency, determine its priority, and identify the appropriate response based on each call’s circumstances.

When an emergency call comes in, a trained call taker will continue to communicate directly with the caller and use the information provided to assess the situation. The Priority Dispatch System will support that work by guiding the call taker through questions tailored to the circumstances being reported and helping organize the information used to determine the appropriate response.

Depending on the nature of the emergency, the information gathered can help determine whether an incident requires a medical, fire, or law enforcement response, a combination of two, or resources from all three. The system will also help determine the appropriate level of response within those disciplines based on the circumstances being reported. Rather than treating every call within a broad category the same, call takers will have an additional tool to help distinguish the needs and urgency of individual incidents. That could mean identifying when a call requires a more significant or specialized response, while also helping determine when a more limited response is appropriate based on the circumstances.

The system uses protocols developed and maintained by the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch, an organization that develops research-based standards and protocols for emergency communications involving medical, fire, and law enforcement calls. Those protocols provide structured, incident-specific guidance to help call takers gather relevant information, assess the reported circumstances, and support response decisions.

Emergency communications centers across the United States and internationally already use the technology. According to its developer, the technology is used by more than 4,000 emergency communications centers worldwide, including 160 of the 200 largest cities in the United States.

The County and Volusia Sheriff’s Office will now work with the software developer on a phased implementation that includes system configuration, integration, testing and training for 911 dispatchers. The system is expected to begin handling live calls in the coming months, following completion of the implementation and training process. The additional technology will complement the experience and training of 911 personnel while providing another tool to support emergency response throughout Volusia County.