What is customization? I asked myself this question the other day when I was told by a customer that a competitor said that Xybix does not do anything custom. Whoa--that was a surprise to hear, as we provide custom furniture all of the time! The big question that should be addressed is how do you, the dispatcher, view a custom product? To answer this question clearly, I have broken the concept of customization down into two main categories to help you better understand what goes into a custom product when designing or updating a new room.  

Trade show floors can be intimidating and a bit overwhelming. After all, APCO 2016 is one of the largest, if not the largest, trade shows for public safety professionals all year. And, whether you’re a Supervisor, Director, Dispatcher, or Manager, odds are that you’ve got a pretty busy week planned for Orlando, FL. Hustling from one session to another, and obviously coming back to your agency with some key take-aways! Trust me, we know the drill.

So, let us help you by telling you why you shouldn’t come by Xybix’s booth at APCO:

During the summer, most of us are guilty of loosening up the reigns on our diet and exercise plans. Kids are out of school and the weather is optimal, so who wouldn’t consider every other day to be a “cheat” day? Of course, the all-American summer is not complete without grilled meals, adult beverages, and tasty sweets, but when you’re back at the grind, maybe “the itis” is still lingering.

We have been in this industry long enough to see trends come and go. Heck, we have even seen companies come and go. Lately, one of the trends in the industry is the selling of single surface consoles. These can seem appealing, as they are different from the first generation consoles that were dual surface, but which option truly provides more benefits? Let’s take a look at the origin of the dual surface console as well as what’s needed today:

What Does Your Makeup Say About You?

There’s a lot of talk about durability in the dispatch furniture industry, and we get asked a ton of questions. Is steel stronger? Is wood stronger? Is 12-gauge steel really better than 14-gauge steel? What is the lifetime of the furniture? 10 years? 15 years? 20 years? The truth is, a dispatch console could be made of bulletproof glass and hurricane-rated I-beams, but if the integrity of the completed product isn’t tested, it couldn’t withstand a Donald Trump temper tantrum, let alone the amount of abuse a console takes in a comm center!

As you know Hospitals are transitioning from monitoring patients vital signs at the nurse’s station to remote rooms in specialized labs within their hospital.  In Telemetry Labs several Technicians sit remotely at desks monitoring anywhere from 6-8 monitors viewing the vital signs of patients.  In the event a patient’s vital signs move out of an acceptable range the Technician contacts the nurse’s station.

Early on the morning of June 12, 2016, a terrorist entered the gay nightclub PULSE in Orlando, FL and unleashed unimaginable hate on the lives of 49 innocent victims. He wounded 53 others and changed the lives of every person, family and the nation with this unmitigated reign of terror. The PULSE nightclub attack is now the worst mass shooting in United States history.

There are about a half dozen imaging furniture manufacturers that have been in the business over the last couple of decades, so selecting the right manufacturer should be an easy decision. The truth is that it is if you do your homework and don’t just pick one that promises the world or advertises in every possible venue.

Ask the Obvious Questions

To help you find the right manufacturer for your imaging furniture needs, here are a dozen questions you need to answer that will address the obvious:

• Does the provider offer true dual-surface desks with both surfaces being capable of moving from 22” to 50”?
• Is the focal depth of the monitors adjustable up to 10”, and can you move all of the monitors together?

Xybix recently released its new TSeries dispatch consoles and made some improvements to its workstations, but the one improvement that really grabbed my attention was the anti-hindered, extended wide open leg room. By now, most dispatchers have heard, “leg room is important” or “you’re going to want room to stretch out”. Whatever the case may be, we get it, with many 911 dispatch shifts of 10-12 hours, you’re going to need to stretch out!

The recent growth at Xybix has caused us to expand our design team, and we just recruited and hired another interior designer, which is much different than my pursuit of a sales professional!