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:

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.

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!

“What is the lifetime of the product?” That is a question we get usually during the bid process. The answer is simple.  It is an arbitrary number of years the salesperson will tell you depending on how much they want to win the job. 

Really?  Yes, it is that simple.  Any salesperson can throw out a high number like they’re at an auction.  Some may say their design will hold up for 20 years while others will say they’re good for 100 years. They are safe doing this because, more than likely, the salesperson will move on to another job in the next few years, and in a few more years, you can almost bet that the staff at the center will have enough turnover they forget this claim entirely.

I read on a 911 blog how a dispatcher felt that it was a great benefit that a company made their products in the USA. This got me thinking; does it really matter? I don't hear that as a major part of the decision-making process for most centers, so it got me wondering about a couple of things.  

According to Dr. James Levine, a leading endocrinologist at Mayo Clinic  and researcher on the health hazards of sitting, sitting for long periods of time is no good. Just take a look at the information below:

Your eyes are precious and extremely valuable, so it makes sense to take safety precautions when you engage in activities that could potentially damage them. For example, when you play racket ball, use a weed wacker, or operate a grinder, you most likely use eye protection.

That being said, what do you do to protect your eyes in the reading room? I know that there isn’t any flying debris or any balls that could assault or damage your eyes in the confines of your dark reading room. However, at the end of the day, are your eyes tired and watering, and/or do you have a headache?  

If your answer is yes, please read on.