After doing a little bit more probing about our semester project, one of my teammates and I traveled to the Center Country Emergency Dispatch Center. I have to say that it was a really cool experience to see everything that we got to see in the center. We got to talk to the head supervisor about what happens step by step as a call comes in to be processed.
When a call comes in you can see all the information about the caller on one screen (number, name, address, wireless provider). The second screen was awesome too because it was a CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch) that could have multiple overlays (rivers, counties, lakes, roads, jurisdiction zones, etc.) via GIS. The third screen is a very details map that the county takes of the whole county with aerial photography. The fourth screen displayed the pagers the dispatcher could set off with the message of the new call that came in.
We also found out that if you call an 800 hotline and there is a large volume of calls all 9-1-1 calls will jump right above the 800 calls and that 800 call may never be answered.
I also like the way the supervisor said within the 30+ years he has worked in the center the protocols and policies have not changed all that much. The only thing that has changed is the technology used to view the incoming calls.
In the video link I have posted below you can see some of the systems and screens dispatchers are using on a day to day basis.
http://www.youtube.com/user/911EComm?blend=22&ob=5
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