Designing a 911 dispatch center for future expansion

Future expansion in this case means updating the technical capacities of the control room, for example in the 911 dispatch world, the most influential technological expansion happened (and continues to happen) during the Next Generation 911 transition. This transition required supervisors to re-think how they designed their centers, so they could accommodate the growing demands for IT infrastructure and all the cables and wires and additional equipment it entails. Some centers might rely on cloud services and do not have that many IT equipment on the actual console, but for the most part, the reliability of control rooms comes from the fact that they integrate redundancy into their design. Which means being able to survive a blackout and continue to operate even if the power goes out. That is how backup 911 centers are designed to operate.

Use heavy duty materials for durability

Control rooms, especially 911 dispatch centers are not upgraded very often. Their lifespan oscillates between 10 to 15 years, but with heavy duty materials and the proper care and maintenance, this can be expanded. Today the best control room consoles are built using heavy duty materials that can endure daily wear and tear. Think of things like constant height adjustments, scratches, impacts, stains, and everything that might occur inside a mission critical environment. Sustema consoles are built using 12-gauge steel substructures and high-pressure laminated worksurfaces, to ensure that operators and their equipment stay supported all day long, all year round. Learn more about our products here.

Modular components and capacity for changing accessories as needed

The modern control console can support a plethora of accessories like task lamps and status lights, but it can also support the weight of multi-monitor layouts which can change year to year, as new software is added or removed from the setup. After more than 2000 thousand installations completed, we know that no 2 control rooms are identical. However, the one thing they do have in common is their capacity to adapt to the user’s needs. The components that you can add and remove throughout the year include lighting solutions, acoustic and visual panels, cable management options like power bars, and even the monitor mounting solutions. Having a versatile control console can be the difference between updating the all the control center and simply swapping in our out an accessory item.

Easy access to IT equipment for cable management and maintenance

Your IT specialist will thank you for choosing a vendor that designs easy access to the IT equipment without having to disassemble the entire console. Truly modern setups allow users to access the data and power cables running through the console to perform IT maintenance, and above all, without disrupting operations. For an example of a modern setup, you can review this case study in which the City of Terrebonne, updated their emergency center with Sustema consoles, specifically to future proof their control room.

Taking internal foot traffic into consideration when drawing out the layout of the room

The design of a control room includes the tangible elements that you can see and interact with like the shape of the control consoles, the accessories, and all the IT requirements. But there is also a lot of intangible factors that play an important role in designing a welcoming and professional layout. One of these factors is the foot traffic of all the people who will be walking around the center, for more information, you can review the guidelines for ergonomic clearances. 

Do you need help planning a future control room? We can help!

Contact us and we will help you through every stage of planning and building your upcoming control room project. You can review one our case studies to give you an idea of what the whole process looks like or explore our catalog of consoles and ask for a quote.