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"PowerPhone’s Total Response solution has given us the ability to properly train our staff with ease to better achieve consistency,” says Bruce Edwards, Communications E9-1-1 Center Manager at Franklin Police Department. The goal was to find an adaptable call handling solution to support Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) to improve the level of service being provided to the community.

With the call taking approach in Total Response Emergency Call Handling Software, telecommunicators ask questions using scenario-based protocols. Questions can be adapted to the type of caller and developing scene conditions. The telecommunicator is working to quickly identify if the caller needs help, the skills needed and the priority of the call. If pre-arrival instructions are needed, the procedures are one click away. 

“PowerPhone gives us the ability to be more flexible to where protocols can be adapted to meet the needs of the caller and our department,” said Edwards. “When reviewing other programs, some seemed to be too rigid in nature.”

With the recent addition of handling EMD calls, there was concern that processes might be slowed and cumbersome. Yet the agency found that “the Total Response software is very easy to operate, which allows our staff to remain consistent and feel confident in the service they deliver,” added Edwards.

The structured call handling process used in Total Response provides guidance for telecommunicators to efficiently and confidently manage each call. Telecommunicators can quickly gather information, determine response and dispatch resources. As a result, “this program gives our dispatchers the confidence and reassurance they need to provide better quality service to our community,” said Edwards.

The Total Response solution combines blended learning, structured call handling and quality assessment tools that improve the standard of care being provided. It can be used to support EMD, police, fire or any emergency or non-emergency call. Designed to support any size agency, PowerPhone has worked with more than 700 agencies to improve their standard of care. PowerPhone has been providing training for more than 35 years and has trained more than 300,000 telecommunicators across the country and the world.