Why switch Dispatch Name from Command to Com Center ?

Status
Not open for further replies.

BamaScan

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Nov 27, 2008
Messages
741
Location
15 miles from Florida Line in Alabama
Tonight at Midnight I was listening to a local Sheriff Department and they switched there name from Command to Com Center. I don't understand why they did this. I hear many Sheriff Departments refer themself as "9-11", "Centeral", or Name of the county they are in, and now Com Center.
Why Change ?? Does it have something to do with Federal Changes ??
 

GTR8000

NY/NJ Database Guy
Database Admin
Joined
Oct 4, 2007
Messages
15,417
Location
BEE00
"Command" implies the Incident Commander, which is an on-scene function. "Comm(unications) Center" is a more appropriate ID for a dispatch center. It makes perfect sense.
 

n5ims

Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2004
Messages
3,993
Command is an often used name that's used for very different functions. For example "Engine 2 to command." Who is he calling, dispatch or the incident commander? In most cases, he's calling the incident commander, not the dispatch center. An incident command is often set up for fires, major wrecks, and almost anything where there's a large response required. I've seen them used for firework displays and festivals even.

This name change was probably done to eliminate confustion on these types of situations where there's also a local incident command setup. It should also make things easier for mutual aid situations.
 

DonnieDog

Database Admin Deluxe
Database Admin
Joined
Oct 23, 2004
Messages
300
Location
Elizabethton, TN
Comm Center is about universal nationwide for dispatch. Where I dispatched before in WV the field units called us "control" on the radio and landline.
 

RKG

Member
Joined
May 23, 2005
Messages
1,096
Location
Boston, MA
Command is an often used name that's used for very different functions. For example "Engine 2 to command." Who is he calling, dispatch or the incident commander? In most cases, he's calling the incident commander, not the dispatch center. An incident command is often set up for fires, major wrecks, and almost anything where there's a large response required. I've seen them used for firework displays and festivals even.

This name change was probably done to eliminate confustion on these types of situations where there's also a local incident command setup. It should also make things easier for mutual aid situations.

"XXX Command" is an Incident Command System ("ICS") term (where "XXX" is a name for the incident). Among other things, ICS is now widely employed for Fire Department incidents and some extended police incidents.

"Comm Center" could be a synonym for "Dispatch" (sometimes a/k/a "Control"), but it also could be used to signify an incident on-scene mobile comm unit, which is usually a function under "Logistics" in the ICS system. Technically, the primary function of the Comm Unit is to monitor all communications (in a repeated system, on both the input and output frequencies) to be sure that all messages are acknowledged and nothing gets lost. Secondary functions involve deploying replacement batteries, portables and the like as needed during the incident, perhaps maintaining either a comm log or an accountability log.

For a simplified overview of the ICS system, see Incident Command System - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The term "control" as a moniker for "dispatch," "base", or "fire alarm" seems to have started in the 1970s with the major shift to UHF, and appears to have been born by the reference to "Primary Control Point" in the revised form of FCC Part 90 license.
 

Warthog1

Silent Key
Joined
May 12, 2003
Messages
455
Location
Northville, NY
Our county went from 'County' to 'Sheriff dispatch' on their main channel, and to 'Central Data' on the data channel.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top