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Summary Job Description | Tasks | |||
Operate radio, telephone, or computer equipment at emergency response centers. Receive reports from the public of crimes, disturbances, fires, and medical or police emergencies. Relay information to law enforcement and emergency response personnel. May maintain contact with caller until responders arrive. | Determine response requirements and relative priorities of situations, and dispatch units in accordance with established procedures. | |||
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Record details of calls, dispatches, and messages. | ||||
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Question callers to determine their locations, and the nature of their problems to determine type of response needed. | ||||
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Enter, update, and retrieve information from teletype networks and computerized data systems regarding such things as wanted persons, stolen property, vehicle registration, and stolen vehicles. | ||||
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Scan status charts and computer screens, and contact emergency response field units to determine emergency units available for dispatch. | ||||
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Relay information and messages to and from emergency sites, to law enforcement agencies, and to all other individuals or groups requiring notification. | ||||
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Receive incoming telephone or alarm system calls regarding emergency and non-emergency police and fire service, emergency ambulance service, information and after hours calls for departments within a city. | ||||
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Maintain access to, and security of, highly sensitive materials. | ||||
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Observe alarm registers and scan maps to determine whether a specific emergency is in the dispatch service area. | ||||
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Maintain files of information relating to emergency calls such as personnel rosters, and emergency call-out and pager files. | ||||
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Monitor various radio frequencies such as those used by public works departments, school security, and civil defense to keep apprised of developing situations. | ||||
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Learn material and pass required tests for certification. | ||||
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Read and effectively interpret small-scale maps and information from a computer screen to determine locations and provide directions. | ||||
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Answer routine inquiries, and refer calls not requiring dispatches to appropriate departments and agencies. | ||||
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Provide emergency medical instructions to callers. | ||||
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Monitor alarm systems to detect emergencies such as fires and illegal entry into establishments. | ||||
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Test and adjust communication and alarm systems, and report malfunctions to maintenance units. | ||||
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Operate and maintain mobile dispatch vehicles and equipment. | ||||
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CompGeo Salary Survey Benchmark Job Summary and Competencies
Dispatchers, Police, Fire, and Ambulance
The Benchmark Job Description below represents the specific Position Characteristics of the job used in the Salary Survey. Benchmark Job Descriptions should be inspected carefully to review the degree of matching between an organizations' Job and the Salary Survey Benchmark. Matching internal Jobs to Salary Survey Benchmark Jobs should not be done on Job Title alone. A thorough comparison of Salary Survey Benchmark to Internal Job Descriptions is recommended. A good overlap should exist on any comparisons used on critical Job Dimensions and Competencies.- Job Description
- Knowledges
- Skills
- Abilites
- Tools and Technology
- Education and Experience
- Alternate Job Titles
- Salaries
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Important Knowledge Competencies | Competency Description | |||
Customer and Personal Service | Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction. | |||
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Telecommunications | Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems. | |||
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Public Safety and Security | Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions. | |||
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English Language | Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar. | |||
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Clerical | Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology. | |||
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Law and Government | Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process. | |||
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Computers and Electronics | Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming. | |||
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Communications and Media | Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media. | |||
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Psychology | Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders. | |||
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Geography | Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life. | |||
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Education and Training | Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects. | |||
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Important Skill Competencies | Competency Description | |||
Active Listening | Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times. | |||
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Speaking | Talking to others to convey information effectively. | |||
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Critical Thinking | Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems. | |||
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Social Perceptiveness | Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do. | |||
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Coordination | Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions. | |||
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Service Orientation | Actively looking for ways to help people. | |||
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Reading Comprehension | Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents. | |||
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Monitoring | Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action. | |||
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Active Learning | Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making. | |||
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Complex Problem Solving | Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions. | |||
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Judgment and Decision Making | Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one. | |||
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Writing | Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience. | |||
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Time Management | Managing one's own time and the time of others. | |||
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Instructing | Teaching others how to do something. | |||
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Persuasion | Persuading others to change their minds or behavior. | |||
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Important Ability Competencies | Competency Description | |||
Speech Recognition | The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person. | |||
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Oral Comprehension | The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences. | |||
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Oral Expression | The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand. | |||
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Speech Clarity | The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you. | |||
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Information Ordering | The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations). | |||
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Selective Attention | The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted. | |||
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Problem Sensitivity | The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem. | |||
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Deductive Reasoning | The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense. | |||
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Inductive Reasoning | The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events). | |||
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Written Comprehension | The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing. | |||
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Written Expression | The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand. | |||
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Near Vision | The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer). | |||
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Speed of Closure | The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns. | |||
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Perceptual Speed | The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object. | |||
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Category Flexibility | The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways. | |||
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Flexibility of Closure | The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material. | |||
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Time Sharing | The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources). | |||
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Finger Dexterity | The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects. | |||
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Hearing Sensitivity | The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness. | |||
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Auditory Attention | The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds. | |||
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Fluency of Ideas | The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity). | |||
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Memorization | The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures. | |||
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Originality | The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem. | |||
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Far Vision | The ability to see details at a distance. | |||
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Tools/Technology Example | Product Category | |||
911 system information databases | Data base user interface and query software | |||
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Computer aided dispatch CAD software | Helpdesk or call center software | |||
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Corel WordPerfect software | Word processing software | |||
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Law enforcement information databases | Data base user interface and query software | |||
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Microsoft Word | Word processing software | |||
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National Crime Information Center NCIC database | Data base user interface and query software | |||
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National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System NLETS | Data base user interface and query software | |||
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Spillman Technologies Spillman Computer-Aided Dispatch CAD | Helpdesk or call center software | |||
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Web browser software | Internet browser software | |||
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Automatic call distributing ACD consoles | Automatic call distributor ACD | |||
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Base station radios | Two way radios | |||
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Desktop computers | Desktop computers | |||
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Digital recording equipment | Conversation recording units | |||
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Intercom systems | Intercom systems | |||
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Mainframe computers | Mainframe computers | |||
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Mainframe terminals | Mainframe console or dumb terminals | |||
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Mobile data computers | Notebook computers | |||
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Multi-line telephone systems | Special purpose telephones | |||
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Personal computers | Personal computers | |||
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Radio scanners | Radio frequency scanners | |||
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Switchboards | Premise branch exchange PBX systems | |||
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Telecommunication devices TDD | Telecommunication devices TDD or teletypewriters TTY for the physically challenged | |||
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Teletype terminals | Teletype input devices | |||
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Two way radios | Two way radios | |||
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Prerequisite Qualification Category | Education and Experience Level | |||
Required Level of Education | High School Diploma (or GED or High School Equivalence Certificate) | |||
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Related Work Experience | None | |||
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On-the-Job Training | Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year | |||
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Alternate Job Title(s) | |||
911 Dispatcher | |||
911 Emergency Dispatcher | |||
911 Emergency Services Dispatcher | |||
911 Operator | |||
911 Operator (Nine One One Operator) | |||
911 Public Safety Dispatcher | |||
911 Telecommunicator | |||
Alarm Operator | |||
Call Person | |||
Call Taker | |||
Communications Officer | |||
Communications Operator | |||
Communications Specialist | |||
Communications Supervisor | |||
Dispatch Manager | |||
Dispatcher | |||
Electronic Telecommunication Dispatcher (ETD) | |||
Emergency Communications Dispatcher | |||
Emergency Communications Officer (ECO) | |||
Emergency Communications Operator (ECO) | |||
Emergency Communications Technician | |||
Emergency Medical Dispatcher | |||
Emergency Operator | |||
Emergency Telecommunications Dispatcher (ETD) | |||
Emergency Vehicle Dispatcher | |||
Fire Dispatcher | |||
Fire Fighters Dispatcher | |||
Forest Fire Fighters Dispatcher | |||
Law Enforcement Technician | |||
Medical Dispatcher | |||
Patrol Telecommunicator | |||
Police Communications Dispatcher | |||
Police Communications Operator | |||
Police Dispatcher | |||
Police Radio Dispatcher | |||
Protective Signal Operator | |||
Public Safety Dispatcher | |||
Public Safety Telecommunicator | |||
Radio Dispatcher | |||
Telecommunications Specialist | |||
Telecommunicator | |||
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