Summary:
Reporting to the Executive Director, Supervisor, or his/her delegate, responds to requests for emergency and non-emergency police, fire and medical services. Incumbents must develop a rapid and accurate sense of call interpretation and decision-making/problem solving skills during stressful situations, processing multiple calls simultaneously, establishing the priority status of the call and initiate a sequence of time sensitive actions. Work is performed using state of the art technology and within strict operational guidelines. All voice and data entry work is continually recorded and is subject to live monitoring for later review and critique and may include public disclosure of such work.
Process:
The Applicant must take each of the skills tests and pass them in order before moving on to the next phase: Criticall Test score at 85% or higher, Select Advantage Test pass with a 50 rating or higher, First Interview, Second Interview, Background Check. Those offered a position will be sent for a post offer/pre-employment physical examination and drug test.
Essential Functions:
- Answers emergency (9-1-1 and 10 digit emergency) and non-emergency call lines for all member agencies and simultaneously enters this information into the computer using a Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) System
- Calms, negotiates, advises and provides instructions to callers to obtain accurate and essential information necessary to establish priority and initiate a timely response to emergency calls
- Dispatch police, fire, and medic units as appropriate via radio transmissions; anticipate problems and respond to units as necessary
- Continually updates information as it is received, enters into CAD and updates units as to new information or instructions including follow up and updated status of calls
- Process more than one call at a time
- Assist co-workers as necessary when available
- Attend shift meetings and /or debriefing before or after work as directed
- May represent the Center while participating in local, regional or state functions related to public safety
- Must be reliable and dependable, reporting for work on a consistent and punctual basis
- Performs additional duties as assigned
Interpersonal Contacts:
Contacts are made both inside and outside the organization. Internal contacts frequently include telecommunications staff and less frequently, administrative staff. External contacts include customers and citizens. The successful candidate may serve as liaison between the Center and one or more agencies to provide superior customer service to the Center's customers. Interactions tend to focus on information exchange and receiving and giving directions. Contacts may include sensitive and/or confidential information. The majority of external interactions are via the telephone or electronically via e-mail or LEADS/NCIC.
Required Knowledge/Skills/Abilities:
- Knowledge of client service areas including streets and landmarks
- Knowledge of map reading techniques, including directions of travel and freeway access
- Ability to condense and organize large amounts of information into readable, sensibly typed remarks in a timely manner and recall numerous acronyms and type codes essential to efficient and accurate call processing
- Ability to make timely and appropriate decisions under emergent circumstances based on technical standards, criteria and policies
- Ability to remember numerous details and quickly re-call essential information
- Ability to consistently think clearly and respond quickly in a wide variety of emergency situations
- Ability to speak English clearly, possess an excellent vocabulary and verbally communicate rapidly
- Ability to deal effectively with people in a multi-cultural society under extremely stressful situations
- Ability to quickly perform multiple time-sensitive tasks in response to visual and sound stimuli with a high degree of accuracy
- Ability to type 40 words per minute while conversing with callers and/or field personnel via two-way radio systems.
- Maintain accurate records as required
- Ability to articulate in a clear, concise manner, disseminating complete and accurate information in a logical and timely basis both orally and in writing
- Ability to work under stress; be a team player and establish good working relationships; maintain self-control under stressful circumstances.
- Ability to discern several conversations simultaneously, disseminate appropriate information, prioritize actions and respond in an effective manner
- Ability to be available for shift work encompassing a 24 hour day, seven-day week; inclusive of days, evenings, nights, weekends, and holidays
- Computer skills sufficient to discern and solve routine problems
Required Education/Experience:
- High school diploma or equivalent. One year experience or greater in the public safety field or successful completion of a vocational dispatch course is desirable
Licenses and Other Requirements:
- If utilizing a personal vehicle in the performance of duties, must possess a valid Illinois Driver's License and the appropriate amount of automobile insurance.
- Incumbent may be required to respond to the needs of the Communication Center regardless of external weather or other emergency factors and outside of regular work hours.
- Obtain and maintain licensure from the Illinois Department of Professional and Financial Regulation Permanent Employee registration Card (PERC).
- Obtain and maintain a certification from the APCO for EMD.
- Obtain and maintain a certification from Illinois State Police to operate the Law Enforcement Agency Data System (LEADS) and maintain the certification as required.
- Obtain and maintain a certification from APCO in Public Safety Telecommunicator I (PST1) and Advanced Fire Communications Environment
- Work is typically performed in the communications room, with varying levels of light , confined environment
- Disciplined environment with close supervision; must carry out lawful orders regardless of personal agreement
- May be subjected to excited, abusive, foul-mouthed, incoherent, intoxicated, impaired or hysterical callers
- Must be available to work shift work encompassing 24 x 7 schedules including evenings, nights, weekends and holidays
- Must remain at the Center for the full scheduled shift. Uninterrupted lunch and breaks are not guaranteed. Lunch and breaks must be scheduled with the on-duty Supervisor
- Due to the nature of public safety work, overtime may be required
- May be subject to "call back" on short notice and for extended periods and must be available by phone/email at own expense
Physical Demands:
- Light lifting, carrying and pushing objects weighing up to 25 pounds
- Dexterity of hands and fingers to operate standard office equipment, including a computer key board
- Sitting for extended periods of time
- Ability to read and discern visual images in a variety of media, to include small liquid crystal displays offering very little brightness/darkness contrast, standard monochrome CRT/LED display screens, printed matter that has been reduced to less than normal size type, multi-colored indicated lights which have differing flash rates and color which indicates the status of electronic functions
- Ability to respond to multiple visual and sound stimuli with a high degree of accuracy in a timely manner • Adequate hearing and visual acuity to successfully perform the essential job requirements
- Ability to speak and comprehend English coherently to exchange information in person and on the telephone
- Must be free from physical impairments that with or without accommodation would interrupt continuous performance of a shift lasting from 8 to 12 hours. Longer hours may be necessary as circumstances dictate.
Location:
NORCOMM Public Safety Communications
2600 N. Mannheim Road
Franklin Park, IL 60131
Contact:
Donald Nielsen, Executive Director
2600 N. Mannheim Road
Franklin Park, IL 60131
630-903-2481
dnielsen@NORCOMM911.com
NOTE: A criminal background check through law enforcement agencies, including a fingerprint search, will be conducted on all successful candidates prior to being appointed to the position.
NORCOMM Public Safety Communications, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
