4 Powerful Steps for Less Stress as a 911 Dispatcher
During her nearly three-decade career as a front line telecommunicator, Laura’s passion for the job waned. More recently, things had gotten worse. She was short with callers and impatient with coworkers. Her daily attitude, usually positive and upbeat, turned sourer each day.
Learn How Scent Impacts Employee Wellbeing
If you are a dispatcher, you have one of the most stressful jobs out there. To be ready and focused for the next call, we know you can use all the help you can get! Read on to better understand the powerful impact of scent on mood and productivity. And we’ll share a great tip that we accidentally discovered while setting up for APCO.
Consider FCC Title 47 When Selecting Dispatch Consoles
In our post, Simplify Your Data Management Solution, we addressed the need for separate cable channels for video and data to mitigate signal interference. Another signal interference risk to your dispatch center communications system may come from unintentional radio frequency contamination. Here’s what you should know.
6 Energy Boosters Help 911 Dispatchers Overcome Winter Blues
Winter is nearly upon us. Did you know that as many as 4 of 6 people experience the effects of “winter blues”? For 911 dispatchers dealing with high-stress calls, the added strain of dreary skies can take a toll. Here are some tips and resources for battling the darker days of winter.
Which is the best material for my dispatch console, wood or steel? (part 3)
Did you know that the aesthetic impact of 911 dispatch furniture can have a lasting effect on your team? That effect – good or bad – influences focus, efficiency, comfort and, ultimately, a center’s churn rate. And the ripples of your purchase impact the economy. Learn how your single 911 dispatch furniture purchase can do so much.
Our 911 Dispatch Consoles Now on Navy BPA Spiral III
Now through June 2021, if you are part of a Department of Defense agency, your group can receive discounts on Watson Consoles’ height-adjustable desks and technology furniture. Watson Consoles is the proud recipient of the Navy BPA, Spiral III awarded for work surfaces, workstations, computer furniture and accessories as outlined under Watson Furniture Group’s GSA agreement.
View from the Top: How Leadership Vision Can Improve PSAP Culture
A compelling and passionately communicated vision can change the world. President Kennedy put a man on the moon and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream inspired hundreds of thousands. Communications Center managers may not be sending rockets into space, but their vision can have a similarly inspirational effect.
Which is the Best Material for My Dispatch Console? (Part 2)
This installment focuses on the technical reasons why wood-core substrate is a durable and functional material for PSAPs and Ops Center dispatch consoles. This will include evidence for functional strength, lasting durability, and technology interface benefits.
Which is the Best Material for Dispatch Console, Wood or Steel?
You may have been recently misled with a false claim. The pitch may have gone something like this: “I understand your agency is planning to replace your consoles… …That’s great news. As you consider your options, you should really stay away from the wood-based products. Steel is so much more sturdy! You need a console that is built to last and wood can’t do the job.”
A Clean Dispatch Console is Good for Your Health
Cold and flu season is nearly upon us. Experts agree that you are most at risk for catching (and sharing) viral infections between October and May. When your team is committed to front-line community help, keeping sick days at bay is a necessity. Making sure your dispatch console clean is one way you can guard against the spread of cold and flu germs.
New USB Connection May Impact Your PSAP
USB chargers are everywhere. In fact, they have become more necessity than convenience. What’s great is that you can find them just about every place you need them – wall outlets and car panels and even airplane seats.You are probably most familiar with USB type-A – the standard. USB type-A connectors only plug in one way (which is most always never the way you try to plug it in the first time) and are big and bulky. The good news is that USB type-A has some competition. USB type-C is a technology that is gaining steam.
Positive, Not Pollyanna: 5 Keys for Happiness in Your PSAP Career
As a heroic caregiver to the world, it’s easy to put others’ needs first. This “putting others first” is a hallmark of 9-1-1 superheroes, who are committed to helping others both on and off the job. In many cases, however, this wonderful quality can stretch thin the most resilient caregiver. Identifying the hallmarks of happiness and prioritizing your own today can make it easier to weather the ups and downs without turning into Negative Nelly.
Creating a Problem-Solving Culture at Your PSAP Center: Part 2
In this installment, you’ll learn steps you can take at your agency to create a culture of problem-solving. And you’ll learn to identify and work-through common roadblocks. Read on and discover how you can be part of a lasting and meaningful shift at your agency.
Creating a Problem-Solving Culture at Your PSAP Center: Part 1
In PSAPs and operations centers across the country, “the way we’ve always done it,” is no longer a viable business practice. Entire organizations, from the top-down and the bottom-up, are devoted to uncovering novel approaches to solving challenges. Wouldn’t it be nice if the problems at your comm center solved themselves? This is the promise of encouraging innovative thinking across all levels of the organization. By addressing the thoughts and behaviors that prevent innovation, you can unleash the potential hidden within the members of your existing team.
New Name, Same Commitment to Providing World-Class Products
A New Name and a New Look
Formerly Watson Dispatch, our brand update is an extension of our renewed commitment to exemplary product design, manufacturing, and customer care. Visit watsonconsoles.com and take a tour. If you are familiar with Watson, read on to meet the team and learn about some of the changes we’re making. If you are new to Watson, dive in. We bet you’ll like what you discover.
Compassion Fatigue and 9-1-1 (infographic)
Compassion fatigue affects as many as eight out of ten 911 dispatchers. Repeated exposure to second hand trauma while fielding emergency calls can take a toll on mental, emotional, and physical health.
The Power of Resilience: How to Thrive as a 9-1-1 Dispatch Professional
Why do some people thrive in the midst of daily challenges while others get taken out? Why can some people tolerate a tremendous amount of stress and others get sick? Resilience.
NEAT Changes Get Big Results (Infographic)
Sitting for long periods stresses your joints, promotes back pain, reduces circulation, and increases your risk of heart disease and diabetes. If you are a PSAP dispatcher, or part of the 100 million+ Americans that work at a desk every day, you have a little extra work to do to keep your health on track. The good news is that increasing your NEAT can significantly improve your health. You might be wondering, “What is NEAT?”
New Console Trends Put the User First, Boost Employee Satisfaction
The adjustment controls integrated into a dispatch console evolve just like the technology the console is designed to hold. The catalyst for change at the manufacturing level is typically related to updates in safety and ergo standards, and feedback from users related to comfort preferences. For the PSAP, seeking out new features may be inspired by dispatcher complaints about current features, a renovation, a move, fluctuation in staffing, or team consolidation. Regardless why you are considering new console options, you should know that well-designed consoles help improve user satisfaction and PSAP team performance.
Small-format PCs Can Mean Big Savings for PSAPs: Space, Time, Money
Technology drives efficiency within the PSAP. In addition to making sure your center has the most current systems capability, it’s important to consider how the hardware impacts your space. By now it’s a familiar refrain: as technology gets better, technology gets smaller. For PSAP centers, this is a good news/bad news scenario.
Congratulations 2017 APCO Award Honorees
Each year APCO (Association of Public Safety Communications Professionals) recognizes outstanding contributions within the PSAP community. This year they received more than 275 nominations in nine categories. We extend a special congratulations to our friends at Kitsap 9-1-1 and Pennington County 9-1-1. Their leadership and the dedication of their teams contributed to outstanding center performance. The winners will be officially recognized during the Opening General Session at APCO 2017, August 13-16 in Denver, CO.
How the Best Comm Centers Motivate Their Front-Line Employees
PSAPs all over the country are experiencing similar challenges. Low staffing. High turnover. Mandatory overtime. Low morale. And it’s not only because they don’t have money to spend. Some centers offer starting pay above $80,000 per year and still can’t solve these problems.
Bring the Outdoors in and Reduce Stress in Your PSAP
Communications team leaders experience some common pain points directly related to workspace impact on employee satisfaction. In a previously published blog, How the Best Comm Centers Motivate Their Front-Line Employees, Adam Timm discusses the negative impact of dissatisfaction on operations and suggests ways to change the tide. However, not all change has to happen at once. There are small adjustments that will positively affect how people feel about being at work and support a healthy office environment.
Germ Warfare: Do Antimicrobial Laminates Promote a Healthy PSAP?
Right now, PSAPs (Public Safety Answering Points) along with the entire global population are concerned with COVID19 and the effects it has on their ability to work. Even team members who are diligent about washing hands and dosing Zinc and C, the invisible contaminates they are exposed to at shift changes can derail their well-tuned health practices.
Communications center managers know a healthy workplace helps keep the team in-tact and operations running smoothly. Now more than ever, furniture manufactures need to discuss the interest behind materials used to make dispatch furniture consoles, like anti-microbial laminates, and if they can actually help thwart the spread of sickness.