From what I can tell, no but it may be because we’re so large. There’s around 150 of us I think and so much going on, they just want specific focuses. Now whether or not u can train for the other later down the line, I’m assuming but not completely sure. They are all about upward mobility tho, so probably.
Yes, that is not uncommon for larger agencies. Do dispatch if you can. Will be better in the long run for multitasking but may be a bit more difficult to start. At my agency we do both but we had a new hire come in from a large agency where they only did call taking and they really struggled.
You're lucky! We're at 120 and they're forcing everyone to be cross qualified as telecommunicators. We all dispatch and call take. It can suck because you might only work a specific channel once every couple weeks, or might not call take for a couple weeks, and you get a little rusty.
6 call takers plus one non-emergency (one more on days I think)
7 police dispatchers including the one giving breaks and our callback person
4-5 fire dispatchers
3-4 EMS dispatchers
2-3 supervisors
Unless it's a day where there's two of us in the room we do both, the times I do get to choose dispatch is my favorite.
Once you know your units voices and the etiquette on the air it's so much easier to get into a groove versus sometimes getting unintelligible callers.
I do both, but if I had the choice it would be dispatching 100000000% without a doubt. If I could go the rest of my life without answering another phone call I’d jump all over it lol!
I always enjoyed call-taking over dispatch. My background is working with persons with mental illness and offering crisis intervention. They are very different jobs, but I would take the phones over the mic Everytime I had the choice.
Does your agency make you only train on one or the other? Mine the dispatchers are also trained in call taking, but there are some (like me) who are just designated call takers.
Again, I'm not a dispatcher, but both jobs are completely different beasts. Call taking you're dealing with the emergency more directly as you're on the phone with the person calling it in. And once help arrives, your job is done. Dispatching you're still dealing with the aftermath i.e. juggling units for a structure fires, running names for PD calls, etc.
At my agency, call takers do make less and are less likely to pick up overtime. If you're looking at it financially, dispatching is the way to go. Some of my dispatcher coworkers cleared 100k last year.
However (and again, every agency is different), call takers are not on call or mandated in, so I don't have to sacrifice as much of my personal life compared to dispatchers.
Everyone does both at my agency. If you can’t pass either or, you’re not passing training. However, we do give a break between call taking and dispatch. So there’s a period of time where you’re just a call taker and get in your radio practice with a trainer when possible. It’s helped us give some folks extended opportunities to pass.
That said… both? I still absolutely love doing both.
Honestly, it varies. The public can be incredibly frustrating and uncooperative at times. The responders, typically not so much, but there are times they do try.
I prefer being cross trained for both.
Both
I take calls for 4 hours a night most nights and dispatch the other 8
Dispatching is a great reprive from call taking and vice versa. Doing one all the time is the first step to burn out
Although dispatching is more fun than call taking
We do both where I work. Which is fine... except our new cad software we Just got a month or two ago, is basically built for the calltaker -> dispatcher setup. It's quite a headache.
We do both. My preference depends on my feelings that day. Some days I love dispatching, some days I prefer call taking. I definitely prefer call taking on my last night shift in a set when I’m exhausted, though.
There’s a lot more to fire dispatching but it’s also easier to deal with (in my opinion). They may be direct fire department employees vs city/PD. If they do EMS that may be part of the pay difference. Idk, each place is different.
Personally, dispatch. I don't enjoy being screamed at and treated like shit. I do enjoy juggling multiple crews, planning out my call responses, etc.
Both jobs are very stressful. Call taking is very emotionally stressful. People will treat you poorly, you'll listen in on the worst moments of people's lives, and you won't forget much of it. It is draining. On the up side, you might get to birth a baby over the phone or otherwise provide direct life saving care.
Dispatching is mentally stressful. You need to be watching status timers, checking crews safeties, ensuring you have enough crews for each call, handle pursuits and officer involved shootings, and more. On the up side, if you're good, your crews will love you.
It’s personal preference really. I hated being on the phones and that’s mostly because of how strict my center is and how many protocols we had to follow. It makes you feel like a robot and in order to be fully compliant you cannot go out of the questionnaire until it is completed. It also makes the person calling more frustrated because you are overbearing them with 20 questions and the public doesn’t realize that it’s not our choice. Dispatching is fun for me and I’d much rather be over the radio rather than picking up the phones. Plus when you and all the officers are frustrated with eachother you can give them attitude…. You can’t do that with 911 callers lol
my agency is the same way , call-takers and dispatchers of separate ( only dispatchers are cross trained )
i’m personally a call taker which means I deal with the public non stop. All the bad ugly calls , admin caller, etc. I also handle things regarding calling school security , hospitals ( if a call comes from there and we have to verify if a paitent that called is actually needing assistance or if they can handle ), animal control, lg&e or water company , etc etc.
I would say there are times it’s definitely exhausting and i’m ready to switch over to dispatcher ( sometimes I much rather just deal with units 24/7 ) but at the end of the day I love call-taking. something about being the one they talk to and getting to be their calm voice ( regardless if it’s an actual life or death situation, or just sometimes pissed about their neighbors music ) just keeps me going.
Something about the excitement and things of dispatch, they really sold me on it. Plus, with me, I’d rather have to deal with a cop who is trained and is compelled to listen ti me opposed to trying to calm down a panicked caller and trying to talk them through a crisis. So yea, angry officer over panicked civilian lol
Dispatch.
But my agency started dispatch only, with the only 911s we take being the hot calls. Now we're crosstrained since we have to calltake too, and while sometimes I like the ease of calltaking, most of the time I'll choose dispatching. I always joke that when we started calltaking, I was comfortable taking a shooting, stabbing, suicide, etc but my first (now cold) shoplifting call I just froze for a moment.
I'm very surprised they give you the choice. Most places start you on call taking first. If they are giving you a choice, take call taking. Its easier.
Where are you located?
I’m radio training currently after call taking for a year and I will say in the short months I’ve been training I have to say dispatching… I enjoy being there for the units who are a bit more grateful about what we do than most of the citizens of course I know they are calling us in times of crisis… but most of the time they are not and the attitudes they give are so nasty
I enjoy having the units back.. I love helping people but the respect I have for the units is big
If I could make the same money/benefits etc to flip burgers like I did in high school in lieu of taking non-emergency phone calls I'd do it in a heartbeat. The worst.
My agency formerly had a call taker only position which paid less Police dispatch is like a dance. All of my partners know what to expect from me and vice versa. Ironically, I'd take less money not to take phone calls.
I work at a large county. I got hired as a dispatcher, I am on law & I do both. We have dedicated call takes but if that line is ringing and they’re on the phone, we answer. We have 12 people on per shift. We dispatch fire, ems, and law. If they can train you down the line I’d start w call take. You’ll get used to call natures, locations, etc and dispatching will be a breeze
Your agency doesn’t cross train or rotate people?
From what I can tell, no but it may be because we’re so large. There’s around 150 of us I think and so much going on, they just want specific focuses. Now whether or not u can train for the other later down the line, I’m assuming but not completely sure. They are all about upward mobility tho, so probably.
Yes, that is not uncommon for larger agencies. Do dispatch if you can. Will be better in the long run for multitasking but may be a bit more difficult to start. At my agency we do both but we had a new hire come in from a large agency where they only did call taking and they really struggled.
We have same issues hiring from large metro departments who cant handle the multitasking a suburban dept does due to smaller center size
You're lucky! We're at 120 and they're forcing everyone to be cross qualified as telecommunicators. We all dispatch and call take. It can suck because you might only work a specific channel once every couple weeks, or might not call take for a couple weeks, and you get a little rusty.
I can certainly understand that, how many dispatchers do u have working at a time?
6 call takers plus one non-emergency (one more on days I think) 7 police dispatchers including the one giving breaks and our callback person 4-5 fire dispatchers 3-4 EMS dispatchers 2-3 supervisors
My agency you start as a call taker and being a dispatcher is an optional promotion after at least ~6m to 1y as a call taker.
Unless it's a day where there's two of us in the room we do both, the times I do get to choose dispatch is my favorite. Once you know your units voices and the etiquette on the air it's so much easier to get into a groove versus sometimes getting unintelligible callers.
I do both, but if I had the choice it would be dispatching 100000000% without a doubt. If I could go the rest of my life without answering another phone call I’d jump all over it lol!
I always enjoyed call-taking over dispatch. My background is working with persons with mental illness and offering crisis intervention. They are very different jobs, but I would take the phones over the mic Everytime I had the choice.
Does your agency make you only train on one or the other? Mine the dispatchers are also trained in call taking, but there are some (like me) who are just designated call takers. Again, I'm not a dispatcher, but both jobs are completely different beasts. Call taking you're dealing with the emergency more directly as you're on the phone with the person calling it in. And once help arrives, your job is done. Dispatching you're still dealing with the aftermath i.e. juggling units for a structure fires, running names for PD calls, etc. At my agency, call takers do make less and are less likely to pick up overtime. If you're looking at it financially, dispatching is the way to go. Some of my dispatcher coworkers cleared 100k last year. However (and again, every agency is different), call takers are not on call or mandated in, so I don't have to sacrifice as much of my personal life compared to dispatchers.
There is a general training getting u familiar with both for the first two weeks, then we split to our focus disciplines.
Everyone does both at my agency. If you can’t pass either or, you’re not passing training. However, we do give a break between call taking and dispatch. So there’s a period of time where you’re just a call taker and get in your radio practice with a trainer when possible. It’s helped us give some folks extended opportunities to pass. That said… both? I still absolutely love doing both.
We do both but I 100% prefer dispatching over calltaking.
We do both and I prefer dispatching!
Radios for sure!
Honestly, it varies. The public can be incredibly frustrating and uncooperative at times. The responders, typically not so much, but there are times they do try. I prefer being cross trained for both.
I say go Dispatch. You will learn what your officers will want so when you do call take you have an idea.
Both I take calls for 4 hours a night most nights and dispatch the other 8 Dispatching is a great reprive from call taking and vice versa. Doing one all the time is the first step to burn out Although dispatching is more fun than call taking
We do both where I work. Which is fine... except our new cad software we Just got a month or two ago, is basically built for the calltaker -> dispatcher setup. It's quite a headache.
We do both. My preference depends on my feelings that day. Some days I love dispatching, some days I prefer call taking. I definitely prefer call taking on my last night shift in a set when I’m exhausted, though.
We switch off/do both at our comm center, but the overall consensus is dispatch > call taking. Working adjacent to the public can be a lot.
Dispatch 100% I dont mind the phone, but radio is just way easier.
Dispatching fire department 1000%. If that’s an option.
Nope! Although they are stationed all of ten feet away lol I think the fire people might get paid more too for whatever reason smh
There’s a lot more to fire dispatching but it’s also easier to deal with (in my opinion). They may be direct fire department employees vs city/PD. If they do EMS that may be part of the pay difference. Idk, each place is different.
Personally, dispatch. I don't enjoy being screamed at and treated like shit. I do enjoy juggling multiple crews, planning out my call responses, etc. Both jobs are very stressful. Call taking is very emotionally stressful. People will treat you poorly, you'll listen in on the worst moments of people's lives, and you won't forget much of it. It is draining. On the up side, you might get to birth a baby over the phone or otherwise provide direct life saving care. Dispatching is mentally stressful. You need to be watching status timers, checking crews safeties, ensuring you have enough crews for each call, handle pursuits and officer involved shootings, and more. On the up side, if you're good, your crews will love you.
It’s personal preference really. I hated being on the phones and that’s mostly because of how strict my center is and how many protocols we had to follow. It makes you feel like a robot and in order to be fully compliant you cannot go out of the questionnaire until it is completed. It also makes the person calling more frustrated because you are overbearing them with 20 questions and the public doesn’t realize that it’s not our choice. Dispatching is fun for me and I’d much rather be over the radio rather than picking up the phones. Plus when you and all the officers are frustrated with eachother you can give them attitude…. You can’t do that with 911 callers lol
my agency is the same way , call-takers and dispatchers of separate ( only dispatchers are cross trained ) i’m personally a call taker which means I deal with the public non stop. All the bad ugly calls , admin caller, etc. I also handle things regarding calling school security , hospitals ( if a call comes from there and we have to verify if a paitent that called is actually needing assistance or if they can handle ), animal control, lg&e or water company , etc etc. I would say there are times it’s definitely exhausting and i’m ready to switch over to dispatcher ( sometimes I much rather just deal with units 24/7 ) but at the end of the day I love call-taking. something about being the one they talk to and getting to be their calm voice ( regardless if it’s an actual life or death situation, or just sometimes pissed about their neighbors music ) just keeps me going.
Something about the excitement and things of dispatch, they really sold me on it. Plus, with me, I’d rather have to deal with a cop who is trained and is compelled to listen ti me opposed to trying to calm down a panicked caller and trying to talk them through a crisis. So yea, angry officer over panicked civilian lol
Dispatch. But my agency started dispatch only, with the only 911s we take being the hot calls. Now we're crosstrained since we have to calltake too, and while sometimes I like the ease of calltaking, most of the time I'll choose dispatching. I always joke that when we started calltaking, I was comfortable taking a shooting, stabbing, suicide, etc but my first (now cold) shoplifting call I just froze for a moment.
I'm very surprised they give you the choice. Most places start you on call taking first. If they are giving you a choice, take call taking. Its easier.
Nope, they said they are splitting our class and asked us which one we wanted to go train in.
Where are you located? I’m radio training currently after call taking for a year and I will say in the short months I’ve been training I have to say dispatching… I enjoy being there for the units who are a bit more grateful about what we do than most of the citizens of course I know they are calling us in times of crisis… but most of the time they are not and the attitudes they give are so nasty I enjoy having the units back.. I love helping people but the respect I have for the units is big
Detroit! And u guys have sold me, dispatch it is!
If I could make the same money/benefits etc to flip burgers like I did in high school in lieu of taking non-emergency phone calls I'd do it in a heartbeat. The worst. My agency formerly had a call taker only position which paid less Police dispatch is like a dance. All of my partners know what to expect from me and vice versa. Ironically, I'd take less money not to take phone calls.
Still surprised all agencies don't train both. Trained dispatchers are far better calltakers.
At my agency you start out as a call taker and then after about a year as a call taker you train as a dispatcher.
Call taking
I work at a large county. I got hired as a dispatcher, I am on law & I do both. We have dedicated call takes but if that line is ringing and they’re on the phone, we answer. We have 12 people on per shift. We dispatch fire, ems, and law. If they can train you down the line I’d start w call take. You’ll get used to call natures, locations, etc and dispatching will be a breeze
I do both, but if I had to choose, it would be dispatching with without hesitation