The Tompkins County 911 Center serves the 100,000+ people who live in this Upstate New York county. Although much of the county is rural, the County Seat of Ithaca is home to Ithaca College and Cornell University. The dispatch center handled nearly 140,000 calls in 2024 alone.

After installing new consoles at the center, Susanne Lottie, Director of Dispatch Sales with Xybix, discussed the process and the results with John Halaychik, Assistant Director of the Tompkins County 911 Center. Watch the interview here and check out the highlights below.

As technology advancements continue to streamline healthcare and improve patient outcomes, the personal touch of a professional interior designer can help. A telemetry lab, command center, or radiology lab that is thoughtfully designed—from the layout and lighting to the desks and colors—is proven to improve productivity, employee health and satisfaction, and, most importantly, patient care. Read on for six ways a degreed and experienced designer can help optimize a new or remodeled healthcare space.

Beyond the Desk: Why Xybix Focuses on Furniture Systems

Updated: February 12, 2025

At Xybix, we hear—and throw around—a lot of terminology for what you might call a “desk.” Dispatch consoles, healthcare workstations, imaging desks. But no matter what they’re called, the desks are part of an entire furniture system that is customized to each customer’s needs. It's one of the main reasons our name is "Xybix Systems."

We’re not pulling a premade desk off a shelf. We’re designing, manufacturing, and installing the desks, computer cabinets, bookshelves, panel systems, lighting, and more that all work together to create a healthy and productive workplace. Plus, thanks to our degreed and experienced interior designers, the room is not only going to look exceptionally cool, but it is going to function well systemically.

If you’re thinking, “Whoa, this is more than I need,” never fear. Our experts in dispatch, transportation, utilities, security surveillance, and healthcare, work with you to figure out what you need for your project, whether it’s 1 desk or 100 desks, bare bones or with all the bells and whistles.

Read on for how the system approach ensures that everything works together, right away and for years to come.

Reviewing floorplans, renderings and virtual walkthroughs is generally not an everyday occurrence for professionals in dispatch, command & control and healthcare centers. In some organizations, the project manager may have two or three remodels or new builds under his or her belt, but most of the time we’re talking about a once-in-a-career project. And yet, you’re being asked to sign off on a project that runs thousands of dollars and is intended to last 10 to 20 years!

Yes, sometimes black-and-white will capture the moment so nicely, but the reality is, we’ve been thriving on color since the 1960s. Color TV! Color photos! Color movies! And now all our digital devices record and relate the world in millions of colors.

We Americans love color for how it looks. Amber waves of grain. Purple mountain majesties. And we love color for the meaning. Red light stop. Green light go. We love how color make us feel. Calming blues, optimistic yellows, disciplined grays.

What we don’t love is selecting colors. In a world where Benjamin Moore alone sells 150+ shades of white, how do you even know where to start? And even if you’re able to pick the perfect white paint, what about the furniture, artwork and accent colors? Today’s muted gray looks are 10 years away from looking as dated as the teal and mauves of the 1980s.

Back in 1996, chess champion Garry Kasparov beat IBM’s Deep Blue chess-playing machine and we thought it was a triumph of humanity over technology. And then, a year later, Deep Blue wins. Could the world of The Terminator be coming true?

The reality is that humans were behind the artificial intelligence (AI) that allowed Deep Blue to win. And I see that in our work here at Xybix every day. The artificial intelligence from our technologies helps our ASID-affiliated interior designers communicate, but it’s their experience and creativity that brings your vision to life. It’s the human element that allows us to design workspaces that are functional, efficient and inspiring.

It’s all in how you see the column. Some see a column in the middle of the room—that pesky support column holding up the building—as a showstopper. Professional interior designers see it as an interesting challenge to solve.

Does a car come in only one color? No – so why should your dispatch furniture. Selecting colors and finishes for your new center can be difficult and overwhelming, especially since there are so many different selections. Here is a step-by-step guide to help you choose the right colors and textures for your next furniture project.

Whether you are looking at upgrading your dispatch consoles, remodeling your existing space, or building a new 911 Comm Center, it is a huge undertaking, and can be a lengthy process with lots of pressure to do it right!  What some folks don’t know is who can help you achieve this – a great design team.