The non-emergency phone line that Montgomery, Blue Ash and Sycamore Township residents use to report noise complaints, lost pets, and parking problems will stay staffed by human dispatchers while a labor dispute plays out.

The Hamilton County Communications Center has suspended plans to route non-emergency calls through an artificial intelligence system after the dispatchers' union issued a cease-and-desist letter in late June, according to a WCPO report published July 13.

The union, identified in the letter as the Communications Officers of Hamilton County, accused the county of "unilateral implementation of this AI software" in violation of the collective bargaining agreement. The letter demanded the county abandon the rollout and negotiate with the union by July 7.

What the AI system would do

The technology in question is AVA, a product built by Seattle-based startup Aurelian. The system answers non-emergency calls, collects caller information, routes people to the right department and escalates true emergencies to a human dispatcher.

"If you call 911 you get a human," Aurelian CEO Max Keenan told WCPO on July 14. "What we're talking about is that separate non-emergency line where you're kind of self-selecting that this isn't an emergency."

Keenan said Aurelian operates in more than 50 agencies nationwide and has not eliminated a single dispatcher job at any of them. He described the system as conversational, capable of handling calls in 45-plus languages.

Why the union objects

The cease-and-desist letter argued the county moved forward without bargaining over how the technology would change working conditions for the center's 60 communications officers. The union's position: negotiate first, implement later.

Communications Director Andrew Knapp declined to comment on the labor dispute itself. In a written statement on July 14, Knapp said the county's "top priority is public safety" and that any AI technology under consideration would be limited to non-emergency calls, freeing trained dispatchers to focus on emergencies "where every second counts."

What it means locally

The Hamilton County Communications Center dispatches for 105 police, fire, and EMS departments across 42 jurisdictions, including Montgomery, Blue Ash and Sycamore Township. Residents who call the non-emergency line will continue reaching a human dispatcher while the dispute remains unresolved.

No timeline for a resolution has been announced. Knapp and county officials have not disclosed whether formal bargaining sessions are scheduled.

Aurelian's product page lists "Hamilton County 911" as a customer with "300+ admin calls automated each day," indicating the system may have already been handling calls before the union acted. The Communications Center has not confirmed whether a pilot was underway.

Residents can reach the Hamilton County Communications Center's non-emergency line to report situations that do not require an immediate emergency response.