Metro Net which provides 911 dispatching to eight Orange County, CA fire departments has upgraded its Computer Aided Dispatch System (CAD). As part of this upgrade they are testing a new computer audio voice dispatch. I call him “Robo Dispatcher”. During the first day of testing Robo did not win many friends. His monotone voice is a little annoying and he was not taught the phonetic alphabet, which has since been corrected (reprogrammed). As much as I am a fan of CAD and the things it can do quickly, like know the location and status of every unit in service, it can never replace a trained human dispatcher. Meto Net has some of the best (human) dispatchers and they make very few mistakes. If we allow Robo dispatchers to do even some of the routine tasks our human dispatchers could lose their skill sets. And of course, a computerized voice could never replace the decision making and judgment skills of an experienced human dispatcher in a major emergency.
Metro Net (Orange Co. CA)
- Thread starter RWPowell2
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I travel a lot for work and bring my scanner with me when I go. I have heard a few agencies running a computerized dispatch.
All of them only use them for the initial dispatch of the call. So for us. the 2-E. 3-F traffic. They still have the dispatchers come back on the same frequencies to tell the units to switch to tacs if they come up on the wrong channel.
I havent seen anywhere that has replaced the human dispatchers with computers. All the computer does is relieve them of the task of doing the initial dispatches. Especially because rare is the time, that the information isnt already on the MDT and pagers.
I would imagine that if MDTs go down and they needed to go verbal, the automated voice would go down rigth along with it.
All of them only use them for the initial dispatch of the call. So for us. the 2-E. 3-F traffic. They still have the dispatchers come back on the same frequencies to tell the units to switch to tacs if they come up on the wrong channel.
I havent seen anywhere that has replaced the human dispatchers with computers. All the computer does is relieve them of the task of doing the initial dispatches. Especially because rare is the time, that the information isnt already on the MDT and pagers.
I would imagine that if MDTs go down and they needed to go verbal, the automated voice would go down rigth along with it.
Well it looks like "Robo Dispatcher" is still in the testing phase so who really knows if this piece of the puzzle will ever get implemented full-time. Time will only tell. I think its like listening to a comic show and is not professional.
Technology has just grown way too fast and there is no slowing it down at this point.
Technology has just grown way too fast and there is no slowing it down at this point.
Metro Net's Robo Dispatchers (Update)
The CAD System upgrades, implemented last September, has created several functional improvements, notable the ability to interface with other dispatch and communications functions, such as AVL and paging. So once the 911 Call information is entered into the system it is immediately available to all the other systems which cuts down the response time. The primary method that dispatch information is sent to the field is digital and has been for some time. The voice dispatch is now used as a confirmation. In fact, if the ECC gets busy sometimes there is no voice dispatch. This makes it hard for scanner enthusiasts to monitor. So Metro Net has been experimenting with “Text to Voice” software that takes the dispatch information and converts it to speech. This is good for the people listening on scanners who do not want to invest thousands of dollars to monitor the CAD systems. Personally I don't like these “Robotic Dispatchers” for two reasons. The voice is a monotone with no emphasis. If you listen to Metro Net or any other agency 24/7, you get used to the rhythm of the dispatchers and the responses from the field. After time your brain tunes out a lot of the routine traffic, but if a major incident is being dispatched you can usually can detect minor inflections in the dispatchers voice and you stop what you are doing and pay attention to the scanner. My second reason is I like our dispatchers, both those at Metro Net and those at OCFA. They are very well trained and do a fantastic job under stressful situations. But you can't fight progress, especially when it involves high tech. So I have copulated and reprogrammed all my scanners. Talk groups 3600 and 3792 have been changed from “2L Alternate Tac” to “2L Robo Dispatch” and “3L Alternate Tac” to “3L Robo Dispatch”, respectively.
The CAD System upgrades, implemented last September, has created several functional improvements, notable the ability to interface with other dispatch and communications functions, such as AVL and paging. So once the 911 Call information is entered into the system it is immediately available to all the other systems which cuts down the response time. The primary method that dispatch information is sent to the field is digital and has been for some time. The voice dispatch is now used as a confirmation. In fact, if the ECC gets busy sometimes there is no voice dispatch. This makes it hard for scanner enthusiasts to monitor. So Metro Net has been experimenting with “Text to Voice” software that takes the dispatch information and converts it to speech. This is good for the people listening on scanners who do not want to invest thousands of dollars to monitor the CAD systems. Personally I don't like these “Robotic Dispatchers” for two reasons. The voice is a monotone with no emphasis. If you listen to Metro Net or any other agency 24/7, you get used to the rhythm of the dispatchers and the responses from the field. After time your brain tunes out a lot of the routine traffic, but if a major incident is being dispatched you can usually can detect minor inflections in the dispatchers voice and you stop what you are doing and pay attention to the scanner. My second reason is I like our dispatchers, both those at Metro Net and those at OCFA. They are very well trained and do a fantastic job under stressful situations. But you can't fight progress, especially when it involves high tech. So I have copulated and reprogrammed all my scanners. Talk groups 3600 and 3792 have been changed from “2L Alternate Tac” to “2L Robo Dispatch” and “3L Alternate Tac” to “3L Robo Dispatch”, respectively.
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Honestly Robo Dispatch is a non-issue to most of us. Just lock out those talkgroups with Robo Dispatch and now they have never existed. They just need to open up some of those encrypted talkgroups and things would be a lot better for all of us
"So I have copulated and reprogrammed all my scanners."
Er, a, I think you meant to say "capitulated!" :lol:
If your choice of words was intentional, if you want my opinion, I would be finding reasons to reprogram my scanners more frequently than ever before!"
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scottyhetzel
Member
LOL , only you Fred would catch that.
I was hoping that nobody would notice my profane typo, but realizing the high education level of the people in the RR Forum, it was only a matter of time. The explaination: when I typed "capitulated", I spelled it "copitulated" and my trusty spell checker changed it for me. Ain't technology wonderful!
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