Computer monitors cause all kinds of headaches. Finance may not like the price, IT may hate the installation process, visitors may trip over all the cords, and, most importantly, monitors may literally give computer users headaches. And that is too bad because dispatchers rely on computer monitors—lots of computer monitors—to help people. Aside from the misery for the person with the headache, consider this statistic: Migraines alone cost $11 billion in medical spending and another $11 billion in lost productivity. That’s per year.
The good news is that consoles designed specifically for dispatchers can help prevent the eyestrain and neck pain that contribute to headaches. Expertly designed consoles go a step further and protect your investment with a stable base, easy installation for IT, and slick cable management. Let’s take a deeper look.
Create the Best Viewing Angle and Distance for Each Person
To help prevent the headaches and neck pain that can keep any of us from doing our best work, monitors need to be positioned according to the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) National Ergonomic Standard. This standard specifies:
- Angle: A 25° downward view angle to the center of the screen, sitting or standing. To achieve this angle for users from the 5th to 95th percentile in height, sitting or standing, the desk height must be adjustable from 23” to 46” high.
- Focal Distance: A distance of 19” to 29” from the eyes to the screen. To customize the distance for each user, the console must allow monitors to move forward and back at least 10”.
- Equal Distance: Equal focal distance for each monitor (or as close to equal as possible). This requires the monitors to be positioned in an arc.
As you can see, achieving ergonomic viewing conditions for people of all sizes, sitting or standing, requires a highly adjust desktop and monitors. (Xybix provides one-touch desk height adjustments from 22” to 46”, exceeding the range recommended by the standard.) For more details on viewing angle, focal depth, and other ergonomic factors, see these illustrations.
Make Monitor Adjustments Easy
To achieve ergonomic standards—and make it easy for dispatchers to find the information they need—dispatch consoles must provide tools for installing and adjusting multiple monitors. Monitor array features to look for include:
- An aluminum monitor array to hold all the monitors without bowing.
- A flexible monitor array that makes it easy to switch out monitors, change sizes, and add or remove monitors in the future.
- An arc-shaped monitor array to achieve equal focal distance across screens.
- The ability to quickly adjust focal distance to ensure that people actually do personalize the monitor placement every time they come on shift.
At Xybix, our patented Rollervision technology allows users to simultaneously adjust the focal distance on all monitors with one motion—a key to preventing eyestrain and the ensuing headaches. Plus, the Xybix monitor array is designed for maximum flexibility and easy configuration changes. See this video for a quick look at Rollervision, or see this one for all the benefits of Rollervision.
Protect Your Investment with Expert Cable Management
Dispatch center equipment includes endless monitor cables, computer cables, and power cords, just ready to be tangled and tripped over. All these cables and cords are not just ugly—they put your people at risk of injury and your equipment at risk of damage. Most dispatch consoles include features for organizing and hiding cables, and some vendors do a better job than others. For a quick look at how we manage cables at Xybix, see this video (or full a complete look, click here).
For more ways to prevent the headaches caused by monitors, reach out to Xybix any time. We’re here to help!
