I've noticed that they've gone back to the two tier system. As a scanner listener, I much prefer it as it increases the chances of catching the dispatch and not missing the information. The fact that they say virtually everything twice (albeit in a different order) is really handy for those of us listening at home.
Another factor that occurs to me is that not all apparatus have MDCs--for example, most if not all of the Type 3 engines (ex--SCR E343). They all seem to announce their response and arrival by voice. It also seems helpful for crews in such apparatus to have the information repeated.
Interestingly, the format that SRFECC uses when dispatching calls is virtually unchanged since at least the mid-1980s, when I first started listening to them on my old PRO-31 scanner. Of course, it's been quite a change for Sac City Fire from when they did their own dispatching. My dad was a city fireman; they still had bells in the stations in the early 90s. I remember they could tell a lot from the sequence of the bells when they sounded. I have no idea what they have in the SFD stations now. I think the initial dispatches to stations came by wire back then, as well.
