The Weber Area Dispatch 911 Team hosted an open house in October 2017 where they celebrated the expansion of their center. Today, nearly six months into occupancy, Kevin Rose, Operations Manager and Kyle Phipps, IT Manager, share details about their quest to improve tech integration and operator comfort.
Making the most of growth
Like many dispatch centers in growing communities, the Weber Area Dispatch 911 team needed to expand. To support immediate call-volume they planned to add five callers to their existing 17 position team.
As part of the expansion project, Weber received approval to replace their 16 year-old console workstations. Both the Operations and IT Managers recognized the opportunity to make the Weber work environment more effective by selecting high quality workstations.
“This is their [the dispatchers'] second home. They are at their consoles for 12 hour shifts. Being able to make the environment work for them is important. They need to be able to make it comfortable and useful on a personal level.”
Kevin Rose, Operations Manager
The right tools for the job
When choosing dispatch furniture, Kevin and Kyle sought to solve for specific pain points that had previously impacted workflow and dispatcher engagement.
- Increased comfort and health amenities for dispatchers working long shifts.
- The addition of three-way focal depth adjustment, identified as critical to ease recurring eye-strain.
- Comprehensive cable management to mitigate cable damage and cable replacement costs.
The Weber team went into the purchase process with an open mind and no manufacturing allegiance. They demoed several models from multiple manufacturers. They evaluated cable management, equipment capacity, adjustability and comfort controls, durability, and use of space.
In the end, the Weber Area Dispatch 911 team chose Watson Consoles’ Mercury workstations for their 22 position center.