Survey finds Australians back AI for emergency call handling upgrades

AI in call handling wins trust

Motorola Solutions said an independent research study found strong public support in Australia and New Zealand for sharing personal data with emergency services and using AI to improve emergency call handling.

The findings were published in Melbourne on Thursday 11 December 2025, following a September 2025 survey of more than 2,500 residents across the two countries conducted by Researchscape.

According to Motorola Solutions, the research was designed to inform emergency services agencies as they plan new emergency call handling and computer aided dispatch deployments.

The company said the report frames this work as a modernisation effort for emergency call handling services first introduced in the early 1960s.

Location and health data willingness

Motorola Solutions said 86% of respondents reported feeling comfortable sharing their exact location data with emergency services.

The company said 75% were comfortable sharing personal information about medical conditions or allergies.

Motorola Solutions added that 54% were comfortable sharing wearable health data from smartwatches, rings and other devices.

The report also recorded what it described as an expectation gap between public willingness to share data and beliefs about whether emergency services can receive and use it.

Motorola Solutions said expectations of capability were lower by 1% for exact location data, 20% for medical conditions or allergies and 16% for wearable health data.

AI options for emergency call handling

Motorola Solutions said 58% of respondents supported the use of AI to detect critical keywords in emergency calls, citing examples such as “knife” or “collision” to accelerate emergency response.

The company said support also extended to ranking emergency calls by urgency at 55%.

Motorola Solutions said 52% supported automatically identifying potential safety threats in live video footage and 52% supported enabling live translations of callers speaking foreign languages.

Motorola Solutions said 78% of respondents were unaware that AI technology is currently being used or developed for emergency call handling.

The company said those aware of AI usage were almost three times more likely to trust it, with 56% trust among those aware compared with 19% trust among those unaware.

Craig Anderson, Executive Chair, National Emergency Communications Working Group, said: “The Triple Zero and 111 hotlines have provided a lifeline for the public in times of crisis for more than 60 years, but the need to modernise emergency call handling technology has never been greater.

“These research findings show that communities expect emergency services to keep pace with rapid technology change, as well as clear generational shifts among younger users to provide more ways to contact emergency services in addition to voice calls.”

How people want to contact emergency services

Motorola Solutions said phone calls remain the dominant preferred method for contacting emergency services, cited by 88% of respondents.

The company said respondents also identified SMS or text messaging at 41%, smartphone apps at 38% and video calls at 15% as top alternatives.

Motorola Solutions said communication preferences differed across generations, with 95% of Baby boomers preferring traditional voice calls.

The company said smartphone apps were the preferred contact method among Millennials at 35%.

Con Balaskas, Managing Director, Motorola Solutions Australia and New Zealand, said: “In an era where we can track the arrival of rideshare services and use AI to deliver faster insights and improve our decision making, it’s not surprising that the public wants to see their emergency services make use of these innovations to help keep our communities safer.

“These findings provide valuable insights to help public safety agencies align their technology modernisation strategies with community needs and expectations, fostering stronger collaboration, better emergency management and a pathway to a safer future.”

What this means for emergency communications teams

Emergency call handling leaders and control room managers can use the reported figures to benchmark public acceptance of sharing exact location data, medical conditions or allergies and wearable health data during emergency calls.

Procurement officers and emergency communications programme leads can also use the breakdown of preferred contact methods, including SMS, apps and video, when assessing requirements for future call handling and computer aided dispatch upgrades.

Training officers and call taker supervisors may want to note the stated support for AI functions such as keyword detection, call ranking and live translation, alongside the reported trust gap between people who are aware of AI use and those who are not.

Technology and integration teams planning media-rich contact channels can also use the generational preference split, including high voice-call preference among Baby boomers and higher app preference among Millennials, when mapping channel demand and data intake needs.