Are you protected against static interference in your 911 dispatch center? Imagine being on a call giving life-saving instructions to a frantic mother administering CPR to her child who has stopped breathing. Now, imagine if a static charge from unprotected flooring caused an equipment malfunction, and the call center experienced a shutdown, losing computer and phone service. Although this scenario is over-exaggerated, if your dispatch center doesn’t have static-free flooring, you could find yourself in a similar situation.

1. Why are acoustics important in a communications center?

No one likes to unintentionally eavesdrop on colleagues’ conversations — whether it’s work-related or personal. But in some office environments, noise travel fast, allowing you to hear other employees’ voices and movements from across the room, whether you want to or not. These undesirable sounds not only affect employees’ productivity, but also decrease privacy.

A room that is considered “loud”, “reverberant”, or “echoey” generally needs additional sound-absorption solutions. Workplaces designed with acoustics in mind will help absorb, block and cover sound by utilizing a combination of products. While successful acoustical design won’t eliminate noise completely, it will lessen it, allowing comm center employees to work more efficiently and effectively.

What is a UPS power source?

An uninterruptible power supply, uninterruptible power source, UPS or battery backup is an electrical unit that provides emergency power to a load when the building power fails. A UPS is very different from auxiliary power or an emergency generator in that it will provide near-instantaneous protection from building power interruptions by supplying power stored in batteries. The-battery runtime of most uninterruptible power sources is relatively short (only a few minutes) but sufficient to start a standby power source or properly shut down your protected equipment.

One of the most confusing aspects of the custom workplace furniture industry is explaining, clarifying and differentiating between technical/systems furniture and run-of-the-mill office furniture. In truth, they only have one thing in common: providing a place to hold the tools necessary to perform one’s work duties and get the job done. Other than that, they couldn’t be more different. Read on for three traits that distinguish technical furniture from your everyday office furniture.

What is the one thing that public safety employees always seem to disagree about in a communications center? Well, there may be more than a few different things on your radar, such as lighting or even a code 7 — can we all agree on a place to eat? 

However, working as a 911 Dispatcher in California, the biggest argument I hear again and again in my center is over the thermostat! Can we turn the heat up? Can we turn it down? There never seems to be a perfect setting to suit all workers.

A raised-access computer floor provides an elevated structural floor above a solid substrate (often a concrete slab) to create a hideaway for data and electrical cabling. Raised floors are commonly used in areas like command centers, call centers and computer rooms and can be installed at varying heights — from 2 inches to over 4 feet — to accommodate specific cabling needs.

But, cable management isn’t the only benefit to installing raised-access floors. This system can also be utilized for proper workspace ventilation. Sub-floor air distribution has become a common way to cool a building, using the void below a raised-access floor as a plenum chamber — an enclosed space in which air flows —to distribute conditioned air.

Purchasing chairs for a multiple user, 24/7 environment is always a difficult task. It seems that there are always compromises to be made in comfort, durability or functionality. Where do you start? How do you know if what your buying is actually a 24/7 chair? Finding the answers to your purchasing questions is not easy, but with a few simple steps, you can get the most out of your chair buying experience.

The biggest thing to remember when ordering chairs is to allow yourself enough time to make sure that you are making the right choice. Make sure that you have given yourself ample time to do all of your homework, research all of your options and demo any product you are considering.

The type of workstation lighting you choose can have a dramatic impact on your work environment as well as the overall costs associated with maintaining your workstation into the future. There are a variety of lighting elements to consider when you are looking at updating or replacing your lighting. To begin, we need to briefly discuss the most widely used types of lighting available in today's market. 

By now, most of you have heard about the health risks of sitting for extended periods of time. A height adjustable workstation or desk will give you the most flexibility, because it allows you to move easily between sitting and standing. So, the next logical question you might ask is 'how do you know what height to adjust your desk to?' A standing desk won’t do a whole lot of good, if you’re hunched over the keyboard to type or craning your neck to read your email. When setting up a height adjustable workstation, there are two positions you want to consider; seated and standing. Both are specific to each individual who uses the workstation.