911 Public Safety Telecommunicator

Public Safety Telecommunicators are the first of the first responders who work as a team of responsible technical professionals to provide the critical link between the community and emergency responders.  Telecommunicators coordinate the responses for the City’s Fire and Law Enforcement Departments, while relaying calls for Emergency Medical Services and other jurisdictions to the appropriate agencies.  They use a variety of technologies, including Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) systems, digital trunked radio systems, and secure criminal and motor vehicle information networks to coordinate and document responses to calls for assistance in High Point.  Telecommunicators participate in training and exercises to ensure the highest level of performance and readiness for the ever-changing challenges presented by the modern public safety environment.  Telecommunicators work in teams, under the direction of a Telecommunications Supervisor, in 12-hour shifts to provide service 24-hours every day of the year.

• Receives voice, text, and video communications concerning public safety, collects, analyzes, and triages the information, then coordinates an appropriate response by public safety field units while documenting the required information in the computer aided dispatch system.
• Uses digital trunked mobile radio system to coordinate efficient emergency responses, relays calls for services, passes along operational information and messages, monitors the radio system to document self-initiated public safety activity by field units, and responds to distress calls from field units; conducts accountability and safety procedures as necessary.  
• Uses specialized training to effectively communicate and build a rapport with panicked, injured, and/or impaired individuals to obtain necessary and vital information necessary for an effective emergency response.
• Uses national and state criminal information computer systems in response to requests from and to communicate with Federal, State, and Local public safety officials. 
• Monitors and responds to a variety of dedicated public safety systems to help locate distressed individuals and coordinate emergency responses.
• Works with Telecommunicators from other agencies, sworn and civilian Law Enforcement personnel, Fire Department personnel, Emergency Medical personnel, Emergency Management personnel, and other local, county, and state agencies to access and coordinate necessary resources for situations that may require them.
• Works with City utilities and third-party organizations as needed to obtain resources for public safety situations.
• Conducts periodic tests and basic maintenance of the equipment within the communications facilities.
• Ensures that all work is performed in accordance with division, department, and city standards, policies, and procedures, to include OSHA and other Federal and State mandates.

 

• Formal Education
  1. High School Diploma or equivalent
• Must be at least 18 years of age.
• Must be able to type at least 30 words per minute.
• Must have or obtain a valid North Carolina Driver’s License upon employment.
• Must be able to obtain the appropriate certifications to utilize the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation Division of Criminal Information services and the Federal Bureau of Investigations National Crime Information Center.
• Must successfully complete a thorough background investigation to include a polygraph examination, psychological evaluation, and appropriate medical clearances.

Preferred Requirements and Skills

• Formal Education
  1. Bachelors or Associates Degree in 911 Communications and Operations, Criminal Justice, Psychology, Information Technology, or any closely related program.
  2. Basic Telecommunicator Certification through APCO, NENA, and/or the NC Justice Academy.
• NC DCI Module 1 Certification
• Expertise with Computer Aided Dispatch systems, particularly Central Square’s OneSolution system.
• Expertise with public safety radio systems, particularly Motorola’s MCC 7500E Elite system.
• Expertise with public safety ESInet phone systems, particularly Motorola’s Vesta 911 system.

Physical Requirements

Degree of Physical Demands (Strength) usually associated with this classification:

 

Type of Physical Demands usually associated with this classification:

 

Talking and/or Hearing: 

• Guidelines for talking are:
  1. Must be able to speak in a manner that is articulate and clearly understood in person, over a radio and through a telephone.  
• Guidelines for hearing are derived from the current NENA Hearing Standards for Public Safety Telecommunicators (Currently NENA-STA-007.3-2020):
  1. Hearing thresholds shall be determined using pure tone stimuli via air conduction with test frequencies including, but not limited to, 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, and 6000 Hz, not to exceed 25 dB HL in either ear.
  2. The minimum acceptable standard of speech discrimination in quiet shall be a score no poorer than 90% correct.
  3. The minimum acceptable standard of speech discrimination in noise shall be no poorer than 70% correct.
  4. 1. Accommodation - The use of hearing aids, cochlear implants or enhanced listening devices too achieve the above speech discrimination standards shall be permitted.

      

     Seeing: The ability to perceive the nature of objects by the eye. 

     • Recommended guidelines for vision are:
       1. Acuity, far - Clarity of vision at 20 feet or more. Must be able to see equipment at other side of room. Both eyes 20/25 -R 20/30 -L 20/30 corrected
       2. Acuity, near - Clarity of vision at 20 inches or less. Must be able to see equipment near at hand. Both eyes 20/25 corrected
       3. Depth Perception - Three-dimensional vision. Ability to judge distance and space relationships to see objects where they are. Must be able to judge distances to use both hands in performing different tasks at the same time. Depth perception - 4
       4. Field of vision - Area that can be seen up and down or to right or left while eyes are fixed on a given point. Must be able to see wide span of equipment to cover all screens within assigned area.
       5. Accommodation - Adjustment of lens of eye to bring an object into sharp focus. This item is especially important when doing near-point work at varying distances from eye. Must be able to adjust the lens of eye to glance quickly at numerous screens located at varying distances.
           
       6. Mental Activity/Requirements
          Reasoning ability usually associated with this classification:
  5. 
     
     • Ability to apply principles of logical thinking to a wide range of intellectual and practical problems often involving persons who are sick, frightened, or excited due to the circumstances surrounding them; to comprehend and deal with a variety of situations in an expedient manner.

  6. Minimum Reading ability usually associated with this classification:

     • Reading Recognition and Comprehension: 
       • Ability to read instruction books and technical journals, statistical reports and documents related to the job.

  7. Minimum Math ability usually associated with this classification:

     • Use of general math skills and statistics: 
       • Ability to work with mathematical data and statistics to maintain a variety of records and reports.

  8. Minimum Verbal Learning and Memory ability usually associated with this classification:

     • Ability to process incoming auditory information, organize in a meaningful way the content of the incoming conversation, and to recall the details.

  9. Minimum Attention Span and Concentration ability usually associated with this classification:

     • Ability to attend to incoming auditory information for periods of time of varying parameters; ability to accurately concentrate on auditory and visual materials; ability to attend to multiple simultaneous activities.

  10. Personality Requirements

      • Must be generally psychologically stable, and free of significant psychological or emotional disorders which would interfere with the ability to work under stressful conditions and function with public safety personnel in a cooperative and effective manner.
      • Must possess adequate empathetic traits and social skills to be able to help others in need, as well as to be able to work on a team requiring varying degrees of interaction in close quarters.
      • Ability to work under extremely stressful conditions, while at other times may require the ability to tolerate a decreased need for intervention services and/or tolerate boredom.

      • Environmental Conditions

        Physical Surroundings

        • The worker is subject to inside and outside environmental conditions.
        • No environmental hazards indicated for this classification.
      • Machinery/Tools/Work Aids/Other Equipment
        • Specialized software programs for computer aided dispatch, NextGen911, trunked radio systems, law enforcement terminals, networked computers, and other public safety sensitive programs.
        • Mobile emergency communications response vehicles with included public safety equipment.
        • General office equipment.
        • Our Commitments
          The City of High Point is committed to be an Equal Opportunity Employer which celebrates diversity and seeks to attract and retain the best qualified partners in service to the Citizens of the City of High Point. The City of High Point is an at-will employer and employees may be terminated or may terminate their employment at any time with or without reason for any reason not prohibited by law.
          The City of High Point is committed to classifying and compensating its employees fairly and equitably for the work they do weighed with both the internal capabilities and the external market. While the job description is not intended to and does not create a contract of employment, we are excited to use this “living document” as a guide for managing performance and positions to ensure job descriptions are reflective of the current work required by the incumbent or expected by any candidate to whom an offer of employment is extended.
          The City of High Point is committed to providing a safe, comfortable working environment to all employees. To that end, we are proud to comply with all Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requirements, as well as make reasonable accommodations to candidates and employees as we are able in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Candidates selected for employment must undergo (a.) a physical to determine whether they will be able to safely complete the essential functions of the job with or without a reasonable accommodation (b.) a drug screening, in accordance with the City’s drug and alcohol policy and (c.) a background screening to determine whether there is any current, pending or previous charge, conviction or other infraction deemed incompatible with service in the capacity for which the candidate is being hired. Successful results from all three of these conditions will result in an offer of employment.

Salary : $50,194