When someone calls 911, every second matters. But what about the thousands of interactions that aren’t true emergencies? A new AI tool is helping Virginia Beach, Va., manage those calls, giving dispatchers the breathing room they need to focus on life-or-death situations.

That shift is happening through the city’s use of Amazon Connect, bringing artificial intelligence and natural language processing into the nonemergency call workflow to help modernize how public safety communications are handled. The change essentially came from necessity, as high call volumes and a smaller workforce pushed the municipality’s Emergency Communications and Citizen Services Department to find innovative ways to manage increasing demand.

“We actually process more nonemergency calls per year,” Jada Lee, director for Emergency Communications and Citizen Services at Virginia Beach, said. “The same people in my department that process 911 calls on a daily basis are also responsible for processing 5,000 nonemergency calls.”

Instead of tying up 911-trained dispatchers with routine questions or ambiguous calls, the city’s 10-digit nonemergency number now routes through Amazon Connect. Callers are greeted with prompts, including a high-priority transfer option for true emergencies. From there, they speak naturally to explain their reason for calling.

“The Amazon Connect system can then translate those stated intents into specific workflows that we’ve configured inside of Connect,” Josh Nelson, Virginia Beach IT solutions manager, said. “It will either transfer the call to a queue, provide more information, send a text message, or it will transfer them to another city department that’s more appropriate.”

Since its implementation in April 2024, the technology’s impact on the department has been hard to miss. In an average month, the solution either completely handles nearly half of incoming calls to Amazon Connect, transfers them to the appropriate city department, or otherwise diverts them from 911 center agents. In actual numbers, that accounts for 44 to 45 percent of calls.

“When you look year over year, that translates to thousands fewer calls for live agents based on your average call duration, which works out to over 900 hours of continuous talk time,” he said. “That’s just April to December 2023 versus April to December 2024.”

The measurable impact on call volume had a noticeable effect on the day-to-day environment in the communications center. With fewer nonemergency calls interrupting the workflow, morale improved as the pressure of growing queues eased — so it was not surprising, department leaders said, that staff buy-in came quickly.

“They were extremely excited about not having to spend as much time processing nonemergency calls,” Lee said. “Those calls typically take longer, and our staff gets very anxious when they see the 911 queue start to build.”

To make the initial transition to Amazon Connect smooth, clear communication with the public was essential, especially to address early misconceptions. Before launch, the team worked to inform residents on how it worked, and what it would and wouldn’t do. That outreach helped ease concerns and build trust in the technology.

Residents, Nelson said, have responded well, especially when it comes to wait times and convenience. The central benefit to the public, he said, is that they’re not stuck in a queue waiting for a live person to tell them something that they could have obtained in other ways.

Buoyed by the system’s success, Virginia Beach is already planning to expand. Their team, Nelson says, has identified several other workflows and use cases and is looking into more, specifically potential integrations with 311 and the city’s Salesforce customer relationship management. Future use cases could focus on anything from towed vehicle inquiries to seasonal high-volume scenarios like fireworks complaints on July Fourth.

But while automation is making a difference in handling nonemergency calls, the goal isn’t to entirely replace humans in safety communications.

“We’re not trying to keep people from speaking to an agent,” Nelson said. “We make it very easy for people to get through to a live person, but we’re saving callers’ time.”

Finding the right mix of technology and the personal touch was part of the challenge, and not everyone was on board right away. For Lee, bringing AI into the picture wasn’t something she initially planned or expected. The director had some doubts early on about whether automation might make the experience feel too cold or impersonal to callers.

“I never thought that I would say, ‘yes, I want AI in my center,’” she said. “But people today, if they don’t have to talk to an actual person and they can have their needs met, then that’s what they prefer to do.”

And in a field grappling with national staffing shortages, Lee said she now sees this kind of technology as essential.

“Dispatch centers across the country are going to begin really looking at how they can use technology software to assist them in creating additional efficiencies in their day-to-day operations,” she said. “If someone is having a true emergency, yes, they want a human being on the other end of the phone. But in other areas, AI is definitely going to help.”

Everyone seems to be launching a newsletter these days. What began a couple of years ago as a wave of respected journalists creating Substack newsletters to connect directly with PR professionals has evolved into something much broader. In 2025, we’re seeing not just media insiders, but also top-tier travel influencers, new tastemakers, luxury hotel brands and even private jet companies leveraging Substack as a direct channel to speak to their audiences.

This surge is more than a trend—it signals a fundamental shift in how brands build community, shape narrative and stay top-of-mind in an increasingly fragmented media landscape.

Substack is no longer a niche media tool. It has emerged as a powerful content platform for curated storytelling, cultural perspective and brand intimacy—especially in the luxury travel space, where experience and emotion drive engagement. According to Business Insider, and with more than 35 million active subscriptions and two million paid, Substack offers unparalleled reach and loyalty. Open rates often triple those of traditional social media platforms, making it a compelling channel for thoughtful, long-form engagement with audiences who want to hear from you.

In the past, luxury travel brands relied almost exclusively on leading traditional print and digital outlets like Condé Nast Traveler, Robb Report and Travel + Leisure to tell their stories. These glossy features still hold immense sway—and we love working with them—but as editorial teams streamline and legacy titles narrow their focus, many PR professionals are looking elsewhere to round out their media mix.

Newsletters like those on Substack offer an elegant solution: a direct-to-inbox format with a highly engaged and often loyal readership. It’s not just about eyeballs—it’s about intent. When someone subscribes to a newsletter, they’re actively choosing to invite that voice into their daily or weekly rhythm. That kind of permission-based content is gold in a world of dwindling attention spans.

Notably, travel journalists and editors are leading the charge. Writers like Yolanda Edwards (a Substack veteran), Sarah Khan, Laura Itzkowitz and more—are carving out spaces to share deeper, more personal travel commentary—often with greater freedom and editorial richness than traditional outlets allow. Whether they’re writing about under-the-radar design hotels in Italy or reflecting on the future of luxury hospitality, the tone is thoughtful, refined and often more honest than a glossy spread permits.

It’s not just journalists. Influential voices in fashion, design, hospitality and culture are also finding new creative freedom on the platform. Claudia Williams writes about style and aesthetics in a way that interweaves her global travel experiences and with a sensibility that resonates with culinary insiders and brand marketers alike.

And the brands themselves are catching on. Luxury hotels, airlines, cruise lines and private travel providers are beginning to use the platform either directly or through collaborations to deepen connections with their most discerning guests. Where once a property might have relied solely on third-party media validation, today they’re commissioning bespoke newsletter content, partnering with newsletter authors on immersive press trips, or even quietly launching branded newsletters of their own—disguised as editorial-first platforms.

Substack newsletters are uniquely effective at driving not just awareness but meaningful engagement. Unlike the often-broad appeal of a magazine feature, a well-crafted newsletter post can prompt direct action—whether it’s bookings, inquiries, or being shared within trusted circles. With a tone that’s more personal and authentic, newsletters resonate with today’s luxury consumers who engage with content selectively, thoughtfully and on their own terms.

So, where is this all going?

What’s next for this space is an exciting evolution of platform diversity and community-first storytelling. We’re seeing new players like The Window Seat by Tori Simokov emerge—blending highly curated travel content with authentic cultural perspective and an editorial voice that resonates with a younger, experience-driven luxury traveler. Tori, a seasoned creative and travel strategist, launched The Window Seat as a Substack dedicated to exploring travel through the lens of storytelling, design and discovery.

We recently hosted her at Park Hyatt New York to experience the new Petrossian tasting experience—an elevated, caviar-forward concept for both guests and locals. The resulting coverage was elegant and personal. It translated to increased awareness and conversation around the initiative among a smaller but highly engaged collective of affluent New Yorkers and global tastemakers passing through the city. The power of that post wasn’t in reach, but in relevance.

This is the kind of storytelling PR professionals should be paying attention to. It’s not about replacing traditional media—it’s about expanding the toolkit. Substack isn’t just another platform to pitch. It’s a space to build relationships, invest in voices that align with your brand’s values and experiment with new formats and collaborations that feel distinctly modern.

What’s especially notable is that these newsletters are being read by the exact audience luxury travel brands want to reach: curious, discerning, culturally plugged-in readers who value quality over quantity. And in many cases, they’re being forwarded, shared and discussed far beyond their initial inbox delivery.

For brands, this presents an opportunity to think more holistically about media strategy. Rather than chasing shrinking column inches or vying for viral moments on social, why not invest in depth, trust and intentionality? Partnering with newsletter authors—whether through experiences, collaborations, or content swaps—can yield long-tail results that extend well beyond a single feature.

In an era where consumers are increasingly skeptical of advertising and overwhelmed by content, newsletters represent a refreshing return to slow media. And in the luxury travel space, where trust, aspiration and emotional connection are everything, that’s an opportunity too powerful to ignore.

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Laura Davidson is CEO and Founder of LDPR. Dana Curatolo is Senior Vice President at LDPR.