Young entrepreneurs put a face on 911 emergency calls

NEW YORK (PIX11) — Nationally, there are an estimated 250 million 911 emergency calls each year.

Until now dispatchers could only hear their desperate callers.

That is now changing because these three Yale University dropouts are revolutionizing the antiquated 911 system. 26-year-old Michael Chime, 24-year-old Neal Soni and 25-year-old Dylan Gleicher left the academics to create a Manhattan-based company they call prepared.

Co-founder and CEO Michael Chime explained, “We dropped out of yale because we felt there was a very urgent and important problem that impacts millions of Americans that our technology would address and make the world safe.”

By utilizing the company’s software technology, 911 dispatchers can send a request for a caller to share live video.

According to co-founder Neal Soni, “In a situation where seconds matter, we show them exactly what’s going on. It’s very useful is a situation when CPR has to be administered. You can show them how to do it. And it’s useful in a fire, you can determine how severe it is as fire units race to the scene.”

In a video of a crime scene in Florida, a burglar can be seen running, hiding and finally being cornered by police. Soni noted, “we were able to see actually where the burglar was, where he was hiding, and finally being apprehended.”

The prepared 911 technology was also useful when a volcano erupted in Hawaii. They were able to use prepared technology to get a live video feed up to 911 centers and able to distribute word to people living in the area.

With the assist of artificial intelligence technology conversations can be transcribed and translations can be provided instantly in 33 languages.

Soni explained, “A call came in with the caller shouting ‘fire, fire, fire’ in Chinese. The dispatcher didn’t know Chinese, but because they were using prepared assist they were able to see actual translation in English.”

In three years, these young entrepreneurs have hired 45 employees across the country, raised $35 million, and have contracted nearly 1,000 911 call centers nationally and are attempting to get New York City to sign on to its technology.

Michael Chime is proud of the company he and his college buddies created. “What motivates me,” he said. “I wake up each day and see that we are building a tool, a software that saves lives and that what keeps me going.”

This young company is prepared for the future. It has now partnered with Apple to bring its technology to more people. This fall all recent iPhones will be updated with a direct video link to 911 centers.

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