Industry veteran Reinhard Ekl joins Hyper as COO in a move designed to help accelerate development of voice-AI solution to support 911 telecommunicators.
By Donny Jackson, Editor, Urgent Communications
Hyper Wednesday announced that industry veteran Reinhard Ekl is joining the company as chief operating officer (COO) in a move that is designed to help accelerate Hyper’s development of voice-AI technology that can support telecommunicators’ efforts to initiate emergency responses to 911 calls.
Hyper CEO Ben Sanders said the company’s voice AI solution already is being used in “some of the largest PSAPs [public-safety answering points] in North America” to automate the handling of non-emergency calls, easing the burden for call-takers in these centers. But company officials have been encouraged to provide this technology for emergency calls, as well, he said.
“We originally thought 911 wouldn’t be a good place to start, because it’s such a critical space and that nascent AI wouldn’t be ready for that as a first stop,” Sanders said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “We were meeting with government officials in 311—which seemed like an easier starting point—and they said, ‘You guys should talk with 911. They’re even more stretched, and did you know that more than half of their calls are kind of like 311? They’re non-emergency and come in through a separate line [from 911].’”
Hyper officials have spent the past 18 month focused on learning the requirements and demands associated with the 911 sector, and adding Ekl—who worked in key jobs for both RapidSOS and RapidDeploy during their growth stages—is expected to help this effort, according to Sanders.
“We’re having a real impact today, being live with some of the biggest agencies in the country,” Sanders said. “And by adding folks like Reinhard to the team, we’re now going to accelerate our own understanding and awareness of this space around integrations and around what the people in this community need.
“Whereas, in the beginning, we had to ask questions to learn. Now, we’re bringing on people to the team who have spent 10 or 15 years in the space. That’s going to allow us to move faster, earn trust more quickly, build features even quicker, and ultimately help our partners have an even bigger impact faster. It’s going to be a big and exciting year.”
Ekl expressed optimism about the future of Hyper and the role that AI technology can play in the 911 sector.
“We’re early in the journey for Hyper, but we’re also early in the journey of AI adoption by 911 and public safety,” Ekl said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “We’re starting with admin calls—the technology works really well, we have proof points, and now it seems obvious that it’s going to happen.
“But me joining the company shows a commitment to 911, a commitment to public-safety communications, and an articulation of a vision that we can go much further. It doesn’t end with just admin calls. We have a lot more use cases that we will build over time.”
Sanders said that Ekl’s role with Hyper is expected to be so crucial that the company is recognizing Ekl as a co-founder, even though Hyper has existed as a company for more than two years.
“We heard this feedback directly from our partners and early adopters: ‘You’ve got this great team with government experience, voice AI experience and tech expertise, and you’re learning a lot about 911. But we would like to see more 911 expertise on your team,’” Sanders said. “Reinhard is a veteran there. Because he’s adding this really integral component to our DNA that we didn’t have, we made a bit of an exception.
“We’re still in the early phase. That’s why Reinhard joining is deserving of that position and title.”
