Xybix's Blog

Being a decision maker for a dispatch furniture project that ultimately will be a huge investment for your city, township or municipality, you'll probably feel the pressure to put those budget dollars to good use. As you begin the search for vendors, it is important to note what services the company offers at no charge or commitment to you, the customer.

Purchasing dispatch furniture is not an easy task, which is probably why it only happens every 10-15 years. There are a lot of steps and parties involved, from radio vendors to flooring teams, it’s not exactly like trip to IKEA! 

When you’re about to request your purchase order, it’s tempting to let your foot off the gas pedal because it feels like you’ve done all the hard stuff. Many Comm Center Managers will agree, you’re only just getting your engines started. 

I talk with many public safety professionals at tradeshows, and after showing them how beautiful our new consoles are, they often joke that they don’t deserve nice stuff. I’m not sure why they’d think something like that. Do ugly consoles last longer than nice ones? Why do they feel they aren’t worth the quality option?

A question we get a lot – is where to start if I need a new a new space, a new building or a new 911 Center? I’d like to steer you to a great starting place.

The Seminar by the Center for Public Safety, October 4-5th in Orlando, FL. The Center for Public Safety, Inc. (CPS) is an organization dedicated to research, planning, and assisting first responders, including law enforcement, fire / rescue, emergency managers and dispatch services in the process of obtaining new or expanded facilities. During this seminar, they will walk you through items such as: which political stings to pull, how to get funding, what your building needs to look like, how many square feet you'll need as well as small things, like how many parking places you'll need. Basically, they will prepare you with all the information you’ll need for your new space.

The idea of getting a new communications center, getting upgrades at your current center, or remodeling can be exciting, but there is also a lot to take into consideration. Typically, a comm center remodel involves several components, such as installing new flooring, painting the walls, implementing new CAD systems, finding new monitors, and of course, getting new dispatch consoles.

As you can see, there are quite a few moving parts involved in revamping a comm center. During this process, it’s natural to want to plan around a time frame estimate. A question we are frequently asked is "how long does it take to get new dispatch consoles"? To help  answer this, I’ll map out the typical timeline we use at Xybix, starting from the beginning.

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.  

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!

So you have a "Meet and Measure" scheduled with a local dispatch furniture territory rep. You figure- hey, they'll come out, measure a couple walls, badabing badaboom! Not quite. Imagine your Comm Center has been selected for the HGTV show where they come and remodel your house or kitchen. You know, where a designer comes and talks to you about how you want things to look and function, then they team up with the architects to make your dream come true.

I had a great opportunity to go to an open house for a newly remodeled dispatch center. This was in Shawnee, Oklahoma, a city of about 30,000 residents.  They dispatch fire and police for the city.  

Being new at something is equally exciting and terrifying. On one hand, you’re in uncharted territory and you are constantly in awe – think Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz stepping into Technicolor. You are a sponge, absorbing as much as you can to learn about the new challenge. On the other hand, you don’t know what you don’t know and there is an overload of information to retain.