The Essential Equipment 911 Dispatchers Love to Hate

Ask any 911 Dispatcher who has been around for a bit of time and they will tell you one of the biggest changes and frustrations that they have seen in their career revolves around technology. So many discussions with them will begin with “I remember when I started we…” fill in the blank. I can add to that as well. I remember when I started we only had three screens and had an actual telephone. Our dispatch board had buttons that I would punch with a drum stick that my dad had thread wrapped for me with little American flags. Of course when I started I was regaled with stories such as, “I remember when we wrote everything down on cards and they went across the room to the dispatcher in little slots by rail.” Now when you look around any reasonably sized Emergency Communications Center you will see upwards of seven screens which encompass CAD, the telephone, ANI/ALI, and all Windows-based application such as mapping, internet and social media. It seems we now have it all due to changes in technology. Although no one can say whole-heartedly that technology has been a bad thing for 911 Dispatch most have similar complaints about how it affects those who do the work. Here are five of the most common issues mentioned. 

Lowest Bidder

Most 911 Dispatchers work for a government agency and the others for a private company. Either way, the financial bottom line is always considered. For government agencies, there is also the consideration of meeting all regulations set forth around purchasing. It’s a common perception that we always seem to go with the lowest bidder when it comes to getting new technology. I’d like to say that this never happens but sometimes it does. Thank goodness there are usually some considerations other than who is going to give us the lowest bid, including, matching the check-list of what the agency wants, most comprehensive package, including training and upgrades and business demographics. All these can be considered when purchasing. I would like to say that compatibility with current equipment is also a main factor but for some reason that seems to be an afterthought sometimes. Even though this is what most of us believe, I’m hopeful that agencies are actually putting a lot more thought into bringing technology into our life or death jobs.

Roll out with Minimal Training

How many times has new technology been introduced, there is an hour or so discussion of the features and what the company promises the equipment will do, brief hands on with a model that isn’t live and bam, the system is installed and we’re live using it. On-the-job training with new equipment is frustrating, scary and often overwhelming. I’ve been told stories of people just going back to cards because they can’t figure out the new system and they don’t have the time or brain space to figure it out while working. Due to her agency only have a model without all the features set up when they got CAD, Julie Clark, a 20 year veteran of a Kentucky agency stated she went on her own time to a neighboring department that already had it so she could see it work live. “I want to make sure I understand how to use everything before I have to because I wouldn’t be able to bear the thought that somebody got hurt and it was my fault because I wasn’t educated enough on my equipment,” she explains.

Into the Future with an Eye on the Past

Another concern that comes with new technology and with our newest technologically savvy generation is that sometimes they can only function with the technology. When the inevitable glitches and crashes happen, they have no idea how to down-grade back to systems used pre-electronic. Ask a young dispatcher to go to cards and they get as flustered as some of the more seasoned dispatchers when they were asked to go to computers. The difference is if they cannot use less technological methods, they are unable to do their job. And please, make sure your handwriting is legible and no techie shorthand (lol).

9-5 Support in a 24-hour World

The crashes and glitches never seem to happen during business hours on a weekday. Instead everything falls apart on Saturday morning at 2am. This sends the supervisor frantically searching for the manual to try to troubleshoot the issues. Maybe the manual will be on-line and they can use the search feature or maybe it will be a paper manual and they will need to remember how to use the index. Either way, everyone on the floor is trying to keep the work flow going while their equipment fails. Fortunately, it seems more and more companies that produce public safety technology are acknowledging the need for afterhours care and providing it.

Public Misconception

This is a big one. In fact, I was just reading a blog discussing the new 9-1-1 show on Fox. A group of 911 Dispatchers were discussing what they liked and didn’t like about the show. One of the main things is that the technology used is not standard in most centers. You can’t just ping a cell phone if you lose a caller without getting a location. A supervisor has to contact the carrier and go through their process. There’s also the issue of all the fancy mapping, crime analytics and other fancy things that exist but are unattainable to most. The problem with these Hollywood portrayals is the public believes that they are accurate representations and then act as if. Often they get frustrated with the operator when they can’t do the things the TV showed that they could.

Changes in technology aren’t going away anytime soon. It will continue rapidly changing. We’ll see many more things in the near future with NG-911, text and video. These will come with both good and bad attributes. One thing I do know is that no matter what all of the 911 Dispatch professionals will do their best to keep up and keep doing their job to the best of their ability.