Back Page -- Behind the Scenes

As I mentioned in yesterday's section, I couldn't obtain a clean telephone line from Baltimore back to the DISPATCH Web site in California. Who knows--was it the gremlins at midnight, Pacific Daylight Time or what? I was able to connect immediately at 10 a.m. today, so I'll never know what it was. The phone cord still doesn't work if I plug it in the "wrong way."

I talked to several dispatchers at the Baltimore comm center. They've obviously been thrust into the national spotlight without preparation--if there is such as thing as preparation. They weren't up-to-date on NENA's position or the association in general. They were all very professinal and enthusiastic about having NENA members come through their comm center, both to show off their workplace, but also to hear news from the "outside."

Of course, all the issues are still the same. A dispatcher was talking about an officer who wouldn't answer the radio immediately, there was a CAD command question, and the incoming calls all sounded very familiar--"No, that's a civil problem, sir." All the dispatchers looked great in their white shirts and black pants. They previously wore just smocks with another patch design. Now they look very crisp and business-like.

The center itself is nothing spectacular, although it's picked-up and clean. A neat feature is one that San Jose (Calif.) must have borrowed--surround the dispatch area with a hallway, with windows looking in. This lets visitors gander at the operation without disturbing dispatchers.

It was a somewhat slow day for me--after last night's game I was dead tired and slept in. I was able to make a couple of seminars and then spent the afternoon at Baltimore PD. The weather was a bit wetter, but still very warm and pleasant if you don't mind the humidity. the worst part if moving from outside to inside--the air conditioning is usually full blast!

Tomorrow will be even slower and the conference will end at noon. I'll be making one more Web report tomorrow and then fly back to California early Friday morning.