Article Highlights
- The problem: Low schedule visibility and inefficient communication
- The solution: PowerTime, an ECC scheduling software
- The benefits: Save time, improve scheduling visibility, and minimize confusion
The problem: Low schedule visibility hinders communication
Given the complexity of 911 telecommunicator schedules, your emergency communications center may undergo multiple iterations before finalizing its staff scheduling plan. Even then, a last-minute change can leave you scrambling to find a qualified telecommunicator to fill a shift. With these challenges, many ECCs struggle to convey scheduling needs to employees.
Because Excel spreadsheets and pieces of paper don’t provide a real-time view of 911 dispatch center schedules, keeping telecommunicators across the agency informed of inevitable schedule changes can be challenging. Not only this, but manually building a schedule is inefficient and labor-intensive, and any changes you make result in multiple versions of the same document. If ECC Directors aren’t careful about verifying that all personnel see and acknowledge the proper schedule, a telecommunicator may accidentally reference the wrong version, leading to shift errors and misunderstandings.
A lack of schedule visibility also means you can’t easily communicate and respond to items like shift swaps, time-off requests, and open shifts that need to be filled. All your communication is static and one-way, making it difficult to adapt to changing needs of both the center and telecommunicator. Since you don’t have an automated way to track telecommunicator hours and scheduling constraints, you may also overschedule telecommunicators, causing burnout and hindering the quality of service they provide over time. Fortunately, 911 schedule management software can remedy these problems.
The solution: ECC scheduling software
You can provide schedule visibility and improve internal communication across your emergency communications center with PowerTime, a digital scheduling software by PowerDMS. This centralized system offers several essential tools to make your ECC schedule management as efficient as possible.
When you need to provide staff with live updates about scheduling changes, simply push out a notification to the relevant parties. You can use email or text/push to send these communication blasts to your entire staff or a specific group and keep everyone informed. Additionally, telecommunicators can use this digital scheduling software to set automated notifications, which inform them when their PTO is approved or a new ECC schedule is published.
PowerTime helps your agency manage staffing needs at every level with tiered approval systems, digital timesheets, and employee information logging. Staff can use this ECC scheduling software to swap shifts, and specific roles can use PowerTime to self-schedule their shifts. Put simply, the features of this scheduling software for public safety make it easier to put together a schedule that meets the needs of both agency and employees.
The benefits of digital scheduling software
PowerDMS’s scheduling software for public safety provides 24/7 access to the most up-to-date schedule from any digital device, so telecommunicators always know precisely when they’re needed. Automatic notifications about schedule changes and complete visibility across the agency make it possible for ECC Directors to:
- Ensure proper staffing at your ECC at all times
- Minimize 911 schedule confusion, overscheduling, and communication errors
- Keep your entire workforce informed and accountable, even when schedules change
All this saves employee time so your agency can better meet service level agreements and focus on the critical work of serving partners and community members.
Learn more
Schedule a demo today to learn more about how PowerDMS’s public safety scheduling software, PowerTime, can improve schedule visibility and communication at your ECC.