In these photos you can see Christopher’s set up for his remote call-taking kit that has added CAD and full call-handling functionality. He is set up in his basement at his house.

Guest blog written by
Laken Detweiler
Social Media Specialist - INdigital

From a college degree in network security to working in hospitality for 22 years and managing 6+ McDonald's, becoming an EMT, part-time dispatching, and working in security, Christopher has been on all sides of public safety and customer service. Today, Christopher works for Stream South Communications and is contracted with INdigital. His primary focus is the PSAP network portion of the Alabama Next Generation Emergency Network (ANGEN). Additionally, he is still a part-time dispatcher and does it from home, thanks to a remote call-taking kit with added CAD and full call-handling functionality. Unexpected, right?

Christopher works at least 12 hours every two weeks call-taking for Blount County 911 in Alabama, but don't let those hours fool you; sometimes, he will work up to 40 hours a month. Believe it or not, when he is scheduled to work from home, he still gets in full uniform to go to work. He said it might just be to the basement, but he is going to work.

"Most of the time, the station is logged in 24 hours a day, seven days a week because all of the dispatchers at Blount 911 know that if the proverbial poop hits the fan, they are to call me any time of day," said Christopher. "If I am in this house, I will get on that console and help. That's just what you do...I've gotten a text message, I've gotten a phone call, or I have walked down in my basement and heard that 911 phone ringing off the hook, and I jump on. If it rings off the hook, I'm getting on it; it is what it is. I'm not just going to sit there and let it go, and go, 'Oh, I'm not working.' You don't do that."

He originally started with A-MED Ambulance as a dispatcher and an EMT and then moved over to Blount EMS. Christopher has been with Blount EMS for seven years and is still there. Through all of this, eight years, he has been part-time at Blount County 911.

"One of the reasons I dispatch part-time is that we can make a difference," Christopher said. "50 percent [of calls you receive are calls] where you have the opportunity to make a difference.

"I like being able to make that difference for that 80-year-old man that just lost his wife. I can't step through the phone and do anything, but I feel it for him. You try to comfort him. I have a hard time explaining it, but it's that ability to make a difference, and a lot of times, it is few and far in between, but when you do get that opportunity, it makes it worth it."

You might be asking yourself, how did Christopher call-taking from his basement at home come about? Because I sure was. In March, the federal government issued a state of emergency; Christopher and his director at Blount County 911 decided that he would take the remote call-taking kit to his house and set it up until further notice. He had deployed the kit many times and had a great set up in terms of network infrastructure.

The kit’s components are pretty simple: a router with a VPN that links his remote dispatch station with Blount 9-1-1’s call-handling and CAD servers. This kit operates primarily off of Chris’ home fiber internet. Additionally, call resiliency is accomplished through a 4G back-up and a MEVO phone.

"Where I live is well off the beaten path, and we weren't sure at that time what was going to go on in the world, and we're still at that point, unfortunately," said Christopher. "Where I'm at is pretty secluded. I've got back up power. I do networking. I have the network infrastructure in my house to support it, pretty much no matter what, so it just makes sense for it to be at my house. I'm a dispatcher, plus I work for INdigital, so if any issues arise, I could troubleshoot it simultaneously. It just made sense, and it has been here, and I have utilized it many times. I do occasionally go into the actual center to let everyone see me, but it's rare."

Working with us at INdigital gives Christopher the chance to travel the state and see it rather than drive through a place and move on with life. He gets the opportunity to network with other dispatchers and learn from them.

"[I have been working with INdigital for] a little over a year. I enjoy the ability to get out and see what other people are experiencing in the 911 industry. That's been one of the biggest rewards working with INdigital, is being able to network and see other people go through," said Christopher. "I do work for INdigital, and I do a lot of networking, but when I walk into a dispatch center, I approach things from a dispatcher standpoint, because if I come at them with (robot voice) 'I am here to fix your computer let me fix it' they're going to have a big exhale and say 'get away from me.' But when you approach with a common ground [it's different]. One of the first things I do is say, 'I'm Christopher with INdigital, I'm here to do this, I'm going to this. I'm also a dispatcher', and the moment I say that, you can see relief come over people's faces."

From traveling the state, he's had the chance to see many 911 centers and understand how different parts of the state understand and appreciate their 911 centers.

"Where I live, it's a little bit different than a lot of the places I go in the state. As far as dispatching, it is appreciated here. The EMTs are appreciated here," said Christopher. "But what I've seen in traveling the state is that it's [dispatching] not always appreciated. I think that dispatchers are not recognized for what they truly do. I don't think people truly understand what we do as dispatchers... It can take a toll on you, and people don't understand that. People do a 9-5 job and look at the same things for 8-9 hours, and they go home, and they don't understand that in your 8 or 12 hours you've lost three people, you've seen two houses burn down, you've heard somebody get beat up, and you take all of that stuff home."

Christopher has a background in network security, so some of the things he's worked with have been new to him, and he has had the chance to expand his knowledge.

"I've learned some new things outside the networking stuff, more along the telecom side, that I did not understand until I started doing this," he said. "It's been an educational experience, a human experience, and going to places in my home state that I've never been. I've driven through them but didn't think twice about looking, but now being able to appreciate everything you do have and everything around you, and INdigital just happened to be the vehicle for me to be able to do that."

If your 911 center does not have a remote call-taking kit on hand, Christopher encourages you to reach out to INdigital to learn more about it. The tool is a great asset to have for backup and disaster recovery.

"It's good for operations," he said. "I think every PSAP, in my personal opinion, should have one, at least to try out. See what you think, take it on a test spin, see what you can do with it… It's the mobility and ability to keep your PSAP going no matter what."

To learn more about the next-generation 9-1-1 system that makes this remote call-taking possible, click here.

Inside INdigital: Working from home, dispatcher edition