Skydio, CentralSquare Wire Drones Into 911 Dispatch

Skydio and CentralSquare Technologies announced a partnership on August 3, 2026, that builds Drone as First Responder (DFR) operations natively into CentralSquare's computer-aided dispatch (CAD) software. The integration auto-populates 911 call data into Skydio's DFR Command and lets a remote pilot launch a drone to the scene with one click, without routing through a third-party bridge.

DFR (Drone as First Responder) is a program model where agencies keep drones docked at fixed points around a city and launch them remotely, in seconds, to arrive at a 911 call ahead of — or alongside — ground units, giving officers live aerial video before they arrive.

Background: Why the Dispatch Software Matters

CAD software is the system every 911 call passes through before a unit is dispatched — it logs the call, assigns it a priority, and tracks units in the field. For a DFR program, that makes CAD the chokepoint of the entire response: if drone launch isn't wired directly into it, dispatchers or pilots have to manually relay addresses and call details between systems before a drone can fly.

CentralSquare is one of the largest CAD and records-management vendors serving US public safety agencies, running daily dispatch operations regardless of which drone vendor a department flies. Until this announcement, Skydio's DFR Command connected to CentralSquare-run agencies through Axon Fusus, a third-party real-time crime center bridge — an extra hop that worked, but wasn't built specifically for CAD-to-drone handoff.

How the Native Integration Works

The new integration removes that intermediary. According to the companies' joint announcement, CentralSquare's CAD incidents — location, call type, and priority — populate automatically inside Skydio DFR Command as soon as dispatch logs them. A pilot reviews the incident on a live map and launches the nearest drone with a single click, with no re-typing of addresses and no radio relay between the dispatcher and the drone team.

Live video and telemetry from the responding drone then feed back into the CentralSquare CAD incident itself, viewable by officers en route, and the drone's flight activity is logged automatically into the incident record for later review.

"Public safety agencies shouldn't have to rely on separate systems or manual coordination to access critical aerial intelligence," said Sarah McWhorter, CentralSquare's VP of Product Management, in the announcement. Skydio's VP of Product, Alden Jones, added: "DFR is transforming emergency response, and seamless integration is key to unlocking its full potential." The integration is available now to agencies running both platforms.

The speed gain is already showing up in the field. Captain Abrem Ayana of the Brookhaven, Georgia Police Department — an early Skydio DFR customer — told DroneXL that under the connected workflow, dispatchers in other jurisdictions are still typing a call into their CAD while Brookhaven's drone is already over the scene, with overall response times now under 60 seconds.

What This Means for Drone Pilots

This is a software and workflow change, not a new aircraft, so it has no bearing on hobbyist or general Part 107 commercial flying. Its impact lands specifically on DFR remote pilots and the agencies that employ them: a native CAD link cuts the seconds spent manually cross-referencing a call before launch, which matters directly in a discipline where Skydio's own data shows drones can be airborne within 20 seconds of a click.

It also reshapes vendor competition. DFR programs already fly under FAA BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) waivers, since the entire model depends on a drone reaching a call the pilot can't see at launch time — and as the FAA's Part 108 rulemaking moves toward standardizing BVLOS approval for exactly this use case, the agencies best positioned are the ones whose drone platform is already tied cleanly into daily dispatch software. By integrating natively into CentralSquare rather than through a bridge, Skydio strengthens its position against DFR rivals such as Brinc and Axon that connect to CAD systems less directly, building on Skydio's full Blue UAS clearance earlier this summer.

Sources: CentralSquare / BusinessWire | DroneXL