New Communications Center heightens efficiency and safety

You might compare the new Communications Center in the Emergency Operation Services building to the drive-through at McDonald’s. In a good way.

Dispatchers in the previous center at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wore wired headsets plugged into equipment receiving 911 phone calls from campus. They then grabbed handheld radios to tell police the who, what, when and where of calls. In addition, they had to staff computer terminals that recorded the phone calls to document the information.

All of this while mostly staying seated because the headphone wires only stretched so far.

Headsets in the newly built Communications Center are wireless and connected to the same communication sources, so dispatchers can move around and accomplish the same tasks.

“It’s like going to McDonald’s,” said Robie Robinson, assistant vice chancellor for emergency services at UTC. “If they have that same technology, let’s use it to save lives. If it’s good enough for French fries, let’s use it here.”

Across the hall from the former Communications Center and now in operation, the new Communications Center is bright and shiny and full of state-of-the-art equipment. Looking something like a NASA control room, there are two separate workstations for two dispatchers with eight computer monitors making a video wall in front of each.

Every monitor is focused on a different job. Among other tasks, they show police calls, react to burglar and fire alarms, keep tabs on campus cameras and display information needed for record  keeping, which is done automatically as opposed to being typed in by dispatchers as done previously.

While the previous communications center had six keyboards and accompanying mice, the new center has one keyboard at each workstation that can control everything. No more jumping between keyboards like a ping-pong ball, a confusing job for anyone, Robinson noted.

In the new center, two workstations allows two dispatchers to work at the same time, and each workstation also has its own vents and climate controls for heat and air conditioning, so dispatchers can decide for themselves whether it’s too hot, too cold or just right.

The former Communications Center averages about 6,000 calls per year, Police Chief Bob Ratchford says. Calls tend to increase as the end of each semester draws nearer, with students needing access to various buildings so they allowing them to complete projects and assignments by the deadline, he says.

All the changes are going to make it easier for dispatchers to do their jobs, said Regina Shoulders, terminal agency coordinator for the Emergency Operations Center, a title that means she’s in charge of dispatchers.

“We have brand-new equipment. A lot of our (previous) equipment is outdated, and it ran really slow. Sort of old-timey. You can only do one thing at a time. You have to use one computer over there and jump from screen to screen.”

Equipment in the former Communications Center had been assembled over the years from different sources around campus, Robinson said.

Staffing the Communications Center is a 24/7/365 job, noted Ratchford, so efficiency with the equipment and comfort for the dispatchers are key. It also will provide better service to UTC.

“The  new Communications Center will enhance our ability to perform our jobs more efficiently and make the campus a safer environment overall,” he said. “The new Communications Center at UTC has also been designed to increase the efficiency of our services to the University community. Should a critical incident occur, this will allow additional personnel to staff the center at the second station and have the ability to address the increased exigencies and requirements of the emergency.”

Along with notifying police officers about suspicious and possibly dangerous situations on campus, dispatchers also monitor burglar and fire alarms, the electronic swipe controllers that let people into buildings after hours and are in charge of door keys used by contractors and others who need access to various buildings or sites on campus.

“When all those things are happening at once, it can be an incredibly hectic environment, and it’s an environment where they have to perform exactly right because we’re talking about not just property but about lives,” Robinson said. “It’s a job that has a whole lot of other jobs come down on it.

“People say that dispatchers are the first first responders,” he said. “When you call 911, that’s who you get when you need help.”