EMERGENCY DISPATCHERS & TELECOMMUNICATOR SIMULATION TRAINING EQUIPMENT
SAVE CORPORATION
Your Local Contact
Most instructors agree that, for positions as emergency dispatchers, the development of the necessary skills must go beyond the study of skills and procedures as provided in manuals such as the Emergency Telecommunicator student course manual. Even with the audiotapes accompanying the manual, students do not have the opportunity to handle "emergency traffic" and interact with 9-1-1 callers.
For classroom situations, instructors need to look for equipment that simulates what an emergency dispatcher will experience in a typical 9-1-1 call center. There are two basic options: 1) obtaining equipment that has been surplussed or donated by a call center, or 2) purchasing equipment that has been specifically designed to train dispatchers. The drawback for the first option is that it is not designed for training; however, it can still be adapted to provide the training needed and it is typically less expensive.
There are a number of options for training simulators. In talking with instructors in secondary school emergency dispatch certification programs, we have found that the OMNI-COMM Simulator line of products offers the best equipment options for in-school programs. The equipment is also used extensively by call centers for their own internal training.
THE OMNI-COMM SIMULATOR LINE OF PRODUCTS that SAVE offers consists of a suite of computer based communicator simulators for training dispatchers. There is a range of options from the low cost M-2000 trainer to the recently updated E-911 Simulator. All provide the means to give students hands-on experience using high quality equipment.
Each in-school program will have to compare its needs to the range of options. Generally, however, in-school certification programs will typically want equipment that contains all or most of the following:
- A central administration and status monitor that allows the instructor to do the following: add/modify users (students), manage network settings, add/modify pager setup, add/modify phone book setup, add/modify ANI/ALI
- A 911 call simulator with about 10 separate phone lines, TDD Communication, ANI/ALI window, Audio recorder, Keystroke recorder, abandoned call return, dial pad, phone book, volume control, full duplex voice communication.
- A radio simulator that allows the instructor to define the scenarios and training level desired and includes the ability to assign up to 30 radio channels so that instructors and students are interacting with each other through voice, text and paging. Plus the simulator should include: an NCIC Code menu, an audio playback with volume control, keystroke review, and a training review function.
The key to the effectiveness of the equipment is the server. The Omni Server configures each user workstation. The Server has an ALI/ANI information screen that allows the instructor to enter various ANI/ALI entries so the data can be tailored to the student's own geographic area. Latitude and longitude can be included for cell phone calls. This helps increase the student's familiarity with the local area.
Emergency Communications Simulation Focus, for a moment on the responsibilities Public Safety Dispatchers must have. Seconds after receiving an emergency call, life saving assistance is en route to you or your loved ones destination. Dispatchers are truly the first responders in any emergency situation. No hesitation, clear communication and immediate response are the products of training by simulation. A wide range of possible scenarios is included with the equipment. This allows practiced in dealing with the scenarios as often as desired and recorded for playback and critiquing.
Dispatchers rely on visual information from their Computer Aided Dispatch screens, what resources are available to respond, their locations and status. They learn to distinguish the fear and need in a callers voice and the sounds associated with the officer or fireman on the radio. Dispatchers can almost smell the intensity of each call as they experience it through all their emotions.
Managing and allocating resources are one of the dispatchers challenging responsibilities.
With new evolving technologies frequent simulation training is the only way to keep pace with the growing number of tools the modern day dispatcher has at their disposal. By continued training and staying ahead, you can prepare tomorrows dispatchers for the emergencies and emotions they will face daily.
Classroom instruction using students as role players allows the trainees to learn by giving them freedom to create, explore and prepare for the verity of emergencies they will eventually face. Instructors may interact or use administrative functions to monitor the scenarios. All voice calls are recorded in WAV files for convenience and storage.
Student screen with ANI/ALI Window Student screen with TDD/TTY Activity
The New E-9-1-1 Phone Simulator provides you with cutting edge technology; edit functions for creating Virtual Local Communication Centers also recording capabilities for critiquing emergency scenarios. Only OMNI-COMM Simulators are designed with the instructor in mind. We have been developing Communication Training Simulators for 20 + years for all agencies in Public Safety and Protective Services.
Phase II Computer Aided Dispatch Simulator
Easy drag and drop ANI/ALI for instructor Student screen has all functions accessible.
This product line has been created for easy instructor interface. Trainers can make it as hard or easy on the students by just increasing the pressure. Through drag and drop functions the role player can work with several trainees at once.
Administrative functions allow editing of all major resources, call codes, vehicles dispatch signals i.e. (AIZ) Available in zone or (ERH) en route to hospital. You can tailor the entire suite of products to reflect all local maps, addresses, logging in of call takers and dispatchers. Our unique Student stations allow trainees to view all that is going on simultaneously, giving them a unique perspective of each call.
Unique User history Report export to pdf
CAD window supplies resources and code
Print out complete records from onset of the call to the end of the students training built in pdf exporting makes retrieval and storage a snap. Call entry window helps students learn local codes and resource status.
Selecting and training people for Public Safety Telecommunicator positions is at best very difficult. We do know however that when a person can experience what happens in the (PS AP) Public Safety Answering Point - at the Complaint Desk - or at the Dispatch Console, they and the interviewer are better able to assess the suitability of job to applicant and applicant to job. The savings in time and money are quite substantial. Learning through role playing puts the trainee in a realistic atmosphere while the instructor has complete control over every part of the exercise.
SAVE's OMNI-COMM line of Communication Training Simulators provides everything necessary for training people in realistic setting using real emergency scenarios. Mistakes are corrected as they occur, without mishap. Audio recordings provide for review and critique of the exercises and are an excellent record of the trainee's progress.
People that have received Simulator training know what is expected of them and have experienced the situations that they will encounter on the job. Their training is completed in less time and is far superior to that using conventional method. This means lower training costs and better employees.Features Benefits State of the art technology Train with cutting edge products
- All client / Server based programs Allows for multiple users and special features Leverage training resources Use existing computers with 2000 and XP Pro Pace individual students Build confidence , develop short term memory ANI / ALI Editing Adapt to any location, city, state or country
- Multiple line configuration Multiple trainees, 911 and non emergency lines
- Dial Pad, Phone Book Dial out and call transfer capabilities
A Typical Call Process In a Classroom Setting When a student receives a call, all student consoles ring until one student answers the call. All student consoles ring regardless if they are in a call or not. The call is answered by clicking the mouse on the flashing line. Alternatively, the Answer button may be clicked, which will answer the longest ringing line.
If ALI is selected by the instructor, then this will appear in the ALI view. The ALI information is only presented when the call is answered and cleared when the call is hung up. If for some reason that first call has to be put on hold and another call answered the new ALI will be presented and when the caller on hold is re-selected his ALI will come back up. When No line is active, the ALI field is blank.
Additional information is then added to the screen confirming the caller's location and status. During this exercise, the student not only practices keyboarding but also develops such skills as active listening, taking control of the call, improving short-term memory, enunciation, problem solving, stress management and courtesy.
When the incident is transferred to the dispatcher with a radio simulator, the same skills are developed by working with instructors acting as police, fire and emergency medical personnel.
The student or instructor may terminate a call by clicking the hang-up button. If the student selects another line while in a call, they will be notified they are already in a call. If the instructor terminates the call, the Callback button may be used by the student to ring the instructors console to resume communication. The phone line is automatically selected.
The user may place an active call on hold. The line that was in use returns to a flashing state, to indicate hold. The instructor is notified that they have been placed on hold. The instructor must wait until they are taken off hold, or hang-up. The student, or another, may take the call off hold by pressing the appropriate line.
A student can receive a TDD/TTY call. A line will ring, but when answering it, instead of audio being present, the TDD conversation fields become active. ALI information will appear as normal. Anything received by the student will be in lower case when the student replies to the caller it is in uppercase. The message is sent when enter is pressed. The release button will terminate the call.
The student may make an outbound call. A Non-emergency phone line must be selected prior to dialing. Digits cannot be entered, or preset selected, until first a free non-emergency line is selected. A numeric keypad exists for dialing out to a manually entered number, or alternatively a preset number can be selected from a drop down list. Selecting clear can clear the number field. The student places the call by pressing the Dial button. All phone instructor consoles not in a call will ring.
SAVE Corporation, located in Edgewater Florida, is a national company that has the most expertise and experience serving the secondary and community college market. As such, Sanders provides on site set-up and training for instructor on equipment use.
For information on the uses of the simulators in various environments visit the SAVE website pages entitled Articles
SAVE CORPORATION
www.sandersav@cfl.rr.com
P.O. Box 278 Phone (800) 888-6021
Edgewater, FL 32132 Fax (386) 428-6021
