Beyond the Call: The Tools That Keep Dispatchers in Control

The Unsung Heroes of Coordination

Do you have strong listening skills and a good memory for details? Can you be calm and clear under pressure? Do you like coordinating others? Then a career as a dispatcher may be calling you!

In all seriousness, aside from their grit and their skills, dispatchers require specialized tools to carry out their jobs. This means they don’t just need desks; they need dispatch control consoles that can handle all the equipment that is plugged in and running 24/7. Depending on what type of dispatcher someone is, they are responsible for telling workers about weather conditions, traffic hazards and anything else they may need to know related to the job.

The Tools of a Dispatcher: More Than Just Screens

Dispatchers work in a variety of places, including taxi companies, delivery services, trucking companies, alarm companies, emergency services, and in healthcare. However no 2 control rooms are the same, so both their layouts and their setup will vary.

Here are the most common tools used by dispatchers in a control room:

• Multi-monitor setups (often 3 or more): 1 single row, 2 rows of monitors, up to 4 monitors in a single row. Monitors are mounted on adjustable monitor arms which are in turn mounted on arms poles or directly mounted on a slat wall. But this depends on the desired functionality of each workstation. In some cases, workstations can be equipped with a focal adjustment system that allows operators to change the depth of the monitor array.

• Computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems: Emergency responders in the field can receive messages initiated by CAD systems via their mobile data terminals (MDTs), radios, and cell phones. CAD systems may also interface with a geographic information system (GIS), an automatic vehicle location (AVL) system, a caller identification (ID) system, logging recorders, and various databases. A unified CAD (UCAD) system interfaces with multiple agencies and/or computer systems that serve law enforcement, fire, and EMS and provides communication across multiple agencies and jurisdictions. (Source: SAVER Technote, Homeland Security)

• Ergonomic seating and adjustable desks: control consoles made from heavy duty materials, steel substructure and high pressure laminate. To support all the equipment and other tools. Cable management ensures uninterrupted operations. A good chair can be adjusted precisely to fit the needs of each user. Check out the different options available for control rooms.

• Lighting and acoustic control: Task lights, status lights and ambient lighting are integrated into the dispatch control console, along with soundproofing with an acoustic panel.

The Role of Specialised Furniture in Dispatcher Efficiency

Heavy duty materials like steel substructure prevents the work surfaces from bending over time. The steel CPU enclosures and the substructure can be used to route cables through the console, from the work surface into the CPU. Passing through cable chains and can be kept separated according to voltage.

The work surfaces are scratch resistant, stain resistant and anti-static which makes them hypoallergenic meaning that no dust sticks to it. Easy to clean. Also, thanks to the urethane edging the users can rest their arms on a more comfortable edge compared to a regular work surface edging.

Mention how your furniture solutions are tailored for high-stress, high-performance environments like 911 dispatch centres. In control centers, cable management helps to keep operations up and running even through IT maintenance periods. With easy access panels, the IT department can perform maintenance tasks without interfering with dispatchers.

Why Experience Matters in Designing Control Room Furniture

We have designed and built control rooms for large emergency centres with hundreds of workstations as well as smaller centers with as little as two workstations. Thanks to our experience of working with public safety professionals, we have adapted our products with new features like our PES system (to integrate heaters and cooling fans) as well as our ConsoleALERT crisis management solution (to help supervisors manage their operators in large centers).

We understand that some dispatchers like to work while standing up and others prefer to remain seated. That’s why we offer dispatch consoles with height adjustability features. But also because this allows a single console to adapt to many types of body sizes.

Supporting Those Who Support Us

Dispatchers work in many fields. They have strong listening skills and a good memory for details. Calm and clear under pressure. They like to coordinate with others. But aside from their personality and their skills, dispatchers require special tools to carry out their job. And to support all of it, they use specialized furniture. Contact us to start building your next control room and empower your operators.