A question frequently asked is, "why do I need divider panels in my comm center?" and “what’s the value of having fabric on them?”  Well, I'd like to help clarify what exactly a divider panel is and give a fun example of how sound can influence your conversations and why it should be important to you.

Divider panels in an office environment are primarily designed to help dampen noise as it is reflected around a room. When people use the radios, phones or talk they project noise which can be a distraction to you if you are quietly working away at your position or workstation. Often times, you'll not even notice acoustic sound barriers, yet they play in import role.

There is a growing body of research that suggests your physical state affects your mental state. Dr. Erik Pepper at San Francisco State University has researched the relationship between posture and mood and has found significant results between posture and subjective energy. He found that “when people experience a lower subjective energy, they feel less capable of performing a task”. 

Keeping your computers cool is an important concern to address in your dispatch center as a hot, running computer will show you the blue screen of death if it gets too warm. While this is a built-in fail-safe for the CPU itself, this is not what a dispatcher wants, especially in the middle of an important call. Computers that run on higher temperatures also tend to have shorter life spans which can lead to spending budget money sooner than you would like.

While looking for a comical introduction to this blog, I revved up the Google machine and searched for “funny sneaker”, and right away, a “funny sneaker” meme popped up. I figured it couldn’t hurt to check it out (even though I had no clue what a meme is), and you could have colored me surprised when Google opened up a whole new world to me: the world of sneakerheads. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the term “sneakerheads” is a real adjective used to describe collectors of classic “sneaks”, or, to further clarify, here’s how the literary virtuoso Urban Dictionary puts it:

As a Communications Supervisor, I often wonder how we can better protect ourselves from the germs, common cold and flu type symptoms, we all bring into the comm center on a daily basis. In my own center and in many of the centers I visit, I notice air purifiers, hand wipes and hand sanitizers sitting throughout the workplace.

When we design a communications center or upgrade our current, are we really putting in the time to look at what we can do to give our center the best acoustical advantage or is this more of an afterthought?

A 911 emergency call center is the "center of the universe" when a high profile call comes in. The caller and the dispatcher will be forever linked in their conversation. This conversation might be played over and over for many years to come. Criminal cases can be won or lost based on the clarity of a 911 tape. Family members and friends longing for closure are able to recieve this with a clear 911 recording of a call. The 911 dispatch team can breathe a sigh of relief knowing they did their job to the best of their abilities and it is available for the world to hear with a clear 911 recording.

It is a known fact that the optimum monitor placement would locate users monitors equal distance from the user’s eyes in order to minimize the need for the eyes to refocus when looking from screen to screen, thus reducing eye strain. 

With all the hype about sit to stand desks and how "sitting is the new smoking." It makes a person wonder, "what are the benefits of switching from a fixed height desk to a height adjustable desk?" That's a great question! And if you are looking to make a case for height adjustable furniture in your office or work environment, use this blog as a resource, ammunition for your cause, post it in your break room, or email it to your boss! Whatever you use it for, I hope you'll find the information valuable and useful.

What is the average lifespan of dispatch console furniture? How long do they last?

I get these questions every now and then from potential customers. These type of questions remind me of some advice I got from a real estate agent when I was shopping for a new house. I asked him, “Should we ask why they are moving?” The answer was, “No, they aren’t going to tell you the truth, anyway.” He was right. The owners would never say something like, “The neighbor’s dog barks all night long and keeps us awake.”

Let’s be honest, life is stressful. Falling behind on tasks adds to that stress. With work stress and personal stress, some days it just becomes too much to handle. Let’s take a look at how we can reduce stress by becoming more productive.

Being more productive is something we all can relate to. Who doesn’t want to accomplish more in a day? The one thing we all have in common is time: 24 hours in a day. How do we maximize those hours to get to a point of exceptional daily productivity — the kind that will make our colleagues jealous, our bosses proud and our friends secretly hate us?