Dispatcher first thoughts

[Puffy Sandvich]

So after a few days of playing dispatcher, I have a few things that I think I could share with the community other than "being a dispatcher is boring" about the job. So the first thought I had about dispatcher is "Oh boy, this is a lot of buttons I have to press." The PLPD training video, although informative doesn't really show you how chaotic it is using these buttons and systems for the first time, especially since I joined and then got like 6 911 calls at once, so no matter how prepared or ready you think you are for dispatcher, trust me you're not. Second thought is that it's a much higher stress job than previously thought. Whenever theres a raid I try to take cauton with my forces, however my statements are merely considered suggestions at times, and then when people start dying around the city because the team has fallen into Anarchy, you feel responsible. 3rd thought, paramedics suck. Now this isn't at all an attack on new players, nor old ones. However I have discovered fully that new players usually go paramedic for their first job. This results in a lot of paramedics driving around the city with their lights and sirens on trying to find "The bazaar." There is nothing more frustrating than paramedics who don't know the map, because every civilian who dies is blamed on you as a dispatcher, for not being able to coordinate properly. Also, older players do something just as frustrating all the time, where they will follow the other paramedic who is being assigned body cleanup, because they are wanting a share of them sweet moneyz. In general, paramedics need a structure system. Finally for the negatives, your method of informing people in the field. I have many times as dispatcher ordered units to withdraw from shootouts, just to be ignored and left with a firefighter going "Dispatch I'm now 10-98" To all people who dk government jobs, the dispatcher knows what they're talking about when it comes to total withdrawal, if they tell you to haul ass, you'd better do it or you end up breaking 3.4. Okay, well that's the negative ones out of the way so let's go to the positive ones. Sergeants are your best friend as a dispatcher, no questions asked. Sergeants listen to your suggestions because although higher ranking than you, they do know that you have a lot more detail on the situation and surroundings than they do. Although lieutenants are capable of the same help, they often have a hard time listening to the dispatcher, lieutenants possess a certain arrogance that sergeants do not. Sergeants are awesome. Dispatcher, for anyone who loves to do a more Passiverp style job, dispatcher Is amazing, you get to actively help the police department, while still not being directly in the line of fire. So, any other dispatchers have different ideas or anyone on the police force want to share your thoughts? Go ahead, please do. Let's keep it a "you suck" free thread though, because I just want people to share their thoughts so everyone is on the same page.

 

[Allen Kennedy]

I haven't had a chance to go dispatcher yet, I got the wrong whitelist XD

 

[[NBD] OttoTheFuzzBall]

Oh I can't wait to get the chance to dispatch for the city after what I've heard. I've got quite a bit of experience from my previous city, and I was mainly doing all of the work manually with my own MDCs and such from a separate laptop so this should be awesome! However.. I've recently applied for Sr. Ofc. so.. I may hang back awhile.. Not sure yet. ^.^
[DOUBLEPOST=1468906223,1468906163][/DOUBLEPOST]

I haven't had a chance to go dispatcher yet, I got the wrong whitelist XD

Quick question.. how does one acquire that shiny "Police Department" badge under their name?..

 

[blackdown]

I absolutely love being a dispatcher. While often times it is enjoyable to merely be in control of such a powerful force and be somewhat of a, "puppeteer". It is also very enjoyable to know that you are benefitting Paralake and it's Government. Being a Dispatcher has some slight downfalls but in those areas it makes up in it's excellent positive aspects. When you look at how much the Government forces improve when there is a dispatcher on, the downfalls of like an idiot Paramedic not listening become nearly insignificant. (don't get me wrong, I hate those daft Paramedics that have no bloody idea what they're doing and they sometimes nearly ruin the entire experience for myself.) I feel that the Dispatcher is one of the most well-rounded and most evolved jobs and role-play experiences you can find on especially Perpheads, but also across the board with role-play.

 

[Fasool]

Quick tip for anyone who wants to become a dispatcher or is a dispatcher, but finds it difficult to use the functions. If you don't know what each button does or how to assign units ect I would advice that you only go dispatcher once another experienced dispatcher is on duty. That way you wouldn't be the one taking full responsibility and the dispatcher will help you out so hopefully next time you could do the job alone. That is how I learned about being a dispatcher. If you do get too "Hyped" and can't wait to use dispatcher while you don't even know which button is which then all you'll be doing is you'll be making a bad reputation for yourself.

Other than that I feel as dispatcher is a really nice job. I mostly go dispatcher whenever I'm eating something Irl like cornflakes or dinner because it's really peaceful and you don't need to shoot anyone or anything.

 

[Death Howl]

Splitting it in paragraphs wouldn't hurt?

I am a experienced dispatchers and even I struggle with having to deal with 3 things at once. I agree with the paramedic system with having to be a satnav for them makes me want to say "Perform a U-turn and quit when possible". The workload can also pile up quickly you can be on the phone then suddenly get bombarded with reports and units wanting a different partner. Prioritising helps alot you need to decide what is most important and make sure anything that is life threatening comes first anything that could be takes second priority.

Anyone wanting another partner or unit is at the bottom of the list no matter what they say, management of the police force should be delayed when someones life is in danger. There are many new officers and employees who may need your help to be effective in their duties you should try your best but make sure that they know that you have an important job and you can't always help them. You are also as a dispatcher in command of the police force but anyone higher than Lieutenant can take command if they do not believe you are doing your job effectively or see a valid reason why they should.

You should also keep an eye on the police force and make sure they are following the code of ethics or anything else set by the heads of the police. Partner anyone higher than regular officer with someone who is new if possible but remember that it is not always possible only do this with new and uncertain officers or any without a vehicle.

If you need any help or advice contact the head of dispatch which I think is @LEWIS 088

Also do not be afraid to contact internal affairs or patrol about officers.

 

[Ayjay]

Here ya go mate, we got given this in Primary school here in England.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/english/spelling_grammar/paragraphs/read/1/

 

[KeiwaM]

Many people really underestimate the stress of a dispatcher. It's a VERY stressful job so if the dispatcher doesn't respond back it's probably because he's: A) Busy with another more important assignment or B) Didn't hear you.
Being a dispatcher is hard and many people expect dispatchers to just show up and do everything perfectly. Dispatchers are humans. We're not machines. Cut us some slack while we try our best.
I Completely agree on the paramedic-part. It's really f*cking frustrating. I've had to send out a captain to demote paramedics several times mostly because they "Don't know" they've been assigned (even after 5 callouts from me).

Overall opinion: A Fun but stressing job. Best to be 2 or 3 on duty at once.

To every normal officer: Don't rush the dispatcher and DO listen to them. Especially any officer below Sergeant should listen at all times since dispatchers are higher ranked.

 

[The HitMan]

I do Enjoy being a Dispatcher, I find the more events going on the better you can improve as it means you will always be occupied, the more Dispatchers the easier it gets as you spread the work load out between you. As for Medics and Officers we all had to start at some point, we would have said where is bazaar or subs? I acted like a Child at Christmas when I first went on-duty with all the buttons.

 

[LEWIS 088]

I myself find the job being a dispatcher more fun the more dispatchers you have.

If you have any suggestions for the role don't be afraid to send me a message about it.

 

[Allen Kennedy]

I consider myself a seasoned dispatcher at this point, probably got about eight hours of time on it. The main things I want to mention are as follows:

When alone, being dispatcher is either incredibly boring, or incredibly overwhelming.

Sweatermedics and Firefighters who don't know the map are incredibly annoying. Don't get me wrong, not their fault most of the time, but I find it difficult to have sympathy for them, as I usually have other things to deal with.

The UI is quite good, and the recent addition of camera buttons on the map is very useful, however... assigning units is rather unintuitive, and I find myself having to constantly click in an out of units, before finding Bravo 2, and assigning them to an incident, before finding out Bravo 2 is busy with a suspect at the PD, which they likely forgot to mention.

One thing I would like added is an APB feature, giving a name, or even a picture of a wanted suspect, to aid units in finding them, same could go for vehicles.

Also, let us access the regular police database computer, so officers can request name & vehicle checks.

Rant over, kbye

I'll upload a few images of possible UI changes I think would make the job more intuitive tomorrow.