What Is Automated Dispatching?

Automated dispatching separates the act of speaking the initial 911 dispatch from the dispatchers. Instead, the CADVoice® fire station alerting system actually vocalizes the 911 dispatch in a crisp, clear, accent-neutral female voice when the dispatch reaches the designated rescue crew that will respond to the fire, accident, or medical emergency. Locution Systems’ automated dispatching allows the 911 dispatchers to handle more calls with the same level of staffing, speeds up the dispatching process, and allows dispatchers to either stay on the line with person calling in the emergency, or to talk with fire chiefs as needed.

How Does Locution Systems CADVoice® Work?

Automated dispatching works as a complement to a Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) system installed in most emergency communication centers. The 911 dispatcher identifies the location of the call, and then uses their CAD system to determine which unit should be assigned to respond. Dispatchers review the recommendations of the CAD system, confirm it, and then “commit” the dispatch with a key stroke or mouse click.

Then, the CAD system sends a data packet with information on the specifics of the dispatch (assigned unit, incident type, address of the emergency, etc.) to the Locution Systems server in the communications center. CADVoice® automatically routes that data packet containing the dispatch information via a high-speed network to a PC in the fire station which contains an audio database specific to the department. That fire station PC with CADVoice® software and the audio database assembles the spoken dispatch using word “bits” stored in that pre-recorded audio database. The system activates the PA system in the fire station and speaks the 911 dispatch in a clear, accent-neutral spoken dispatch that’s sent to the designated rescue unit for response. The dispatcher makes the decisions, but the computer speaks the dispatch. When CADVoice® Radio is being implemented, those functions occur in the communications center, and the dispatch is vocalized over the department’s radio system.