Career Development

Learn how to reduce your agency’s exposure to legal actions and manage your risks.

Liability is a reality in today’s dispatch center. Every time you handle an emergency call, you create a log and journal that is admissible in a court of law, just like a police report.

As an emergency call handler, you are on the front line. PowerPhone’s 911 Liability class will show you how to protect yourself – and your agency – from costly legal action.

Topics

• Measuring standards of care
• Negligence
• Good Samaritan statutes
• Public duty doctrine
• Sovereign immunity
• Vicarious liability
• Recent 911 court cases
• Abandonment
• Principle of reasonableness
• Emergency rule
• Damages
• Consent
• Caller confidentiality
• Misconceptions of liability
• The future of 911 liability

Outcomes

• Recognize actions that increase liability exposure.
• Identify areas of risk.
• Defend against negligence.
• Reduce your agency’s liability.

Availability

• This course is available online as either a self-paced program or scheduled instructor led sessions.

Please contact us for pricing details.

When your call takers turn to you for help, will you be ready?

911 supervisors have one of the toughest jobs in public safety. You have to manage the workings of a call center and be ready to respond to emergencies in an instant.

Until now, most supervisor classes have focused on policies and procedures. PowerPhone’s 911 Supervision course is different. It helps you build the skills and confidence you need to handle both day-to-day operations and critical situations.

Like all PowerPhone training, this class examines real-life incidents, not made-up scenarios. Veteran instructors use actual 911 audiotapes to prepare supervisors for the real world of crisis communications management.

Topics

• Meeting today’s standard of care
• Conflict resolution techniques
• Motivating and leading 911 personnel
• Homeland security trends
• Handling frustrated, dissatisfied employees and employee grievances
• Internal affairs complaints
• Cell phone and wireless issues
• Forensic audiology

Outcomes

• Identify the role of the Communication Center Supervisor.
• Define the term Leadership and identify leadership styles that can be used in the Communication Center.
• Identify areas where most liability originates in call handling and the Supervisor’s role in reducing this risk.
• Describe the basic concepts of Interpersonal Communication.
• Identify the causative factors of stress, while exploring techniques designed to manage and eliminate the stress and tension directly associated with the Public Safety Telecommunicator.
• Identify the frustrated employee, methods to reduce the frustration level and the main issues that result in employee dissatisfaction.
• Identify positive and negative forms of discipline.

Availability

• This course is available online as either a self-paced program.

Please contact us for pricing details.

From college or public school campuses to workplace violence and mall shootings, the active shooter response is a unique challenge for law enforcement agencies – and not just for the officers who respond to the scene. 911 calls from frightened victims and bystanders are a reality that call handlers will continue to face.

Updated with the latest FBI statistics, PowerPhone’s Active Shooting Response course addresses the role of the public safety call handler in these incidents.

Topics

• Pre-planning
• Profiling the active shooter
• Five origins of active shootings
• Pre-arrival survival instructions
• Gathering vital intelligence for responders
• Five phases of the active shooter
• Communicating with an active shooter
• Immediate Action Rapid Deployment (IARD) tactics
• Workplace violence
• School shootings
• Containment plans
• Safe environment
• ICS in active shootings
• Critical incident stress debriefings

Outcomes

• Understand the mentality and motivations of the active shooter.
• Gain knowledge to help save lives.

Availability

• This course is available online as either a self-paced program or scheduled instructor led sessions.

Please contact us for pricing details.

Learn best practices for handling crisis communications within your call-handling operation.

Train communications personnel on the critical role they have as a communications operator in providing customer service and responding as an operator to an agency-related or caller-based crisis, and the procedures that should follow to better protect agency employees and callers.

Topics

• Customer service as a communications operator.
• Responding as an operator to an agency-related crisis.
• Procedures to better protect company employees or agency co-workers.
• Responding as an operator to callers experiencing workplace or domestic violence.

Outcomes

• Define and identify the traits, roles, and functions of a communications operator.
• Recognize and apply the Journalistic Investigative Approach, the dispatch process, effective call handling procedures and provide improved customer service.
• Illustrate and use the proper handling of anonymous callers, bomb threats, hazards, disasters, recognize information credibility, and red flag situations.
• Explain and identify individual and agency liability, reduce liability, and define and employ the 300 Call Syndrome.
• Describe methods of recognizing potential suicides, and applying suicide and crisis intervention techniques.
• Discuss and use active listening skills including emotion labeling, paraphrasing, reflecting/mirroring, effective pauses, minimal encouragers, “I” messages, and open-ended questions.
• Define and recognize workplace violence, problem behavior, methods of caller safety, and preventing workplace violence.
• Identify and discuss domestic violence, forms of domestic violence, domestic violence victim types, stalking, the cycle of violence, and methods to handling domestic violence calls.

Availability

• This course is available online as pre-scheduled instructor led sessions.

Please contact us for details.

Disaster Response Training for Before, During and After a Catastrophe

Many dispatchers are not fully prepared if a disaster were to affect their community.

We’re constantly reminded that disasters can strike anywhere and anytime – including historic flooding along many rivers, deadly tornadoes in several states, devastating hurricanes hitting the entire East Coast and even an earthquake in our Capital.

PowerPhone’s ‘Disasters and the Dispatcher’ course provides communication and planning techniques that will enable you and your agency to have a direct impact on the successful outcome of a disaster-related emergency.

You will learn proven methods of gathering the most pertinent information in the least amount of time, while determining the severity and urgency of the call for assistance. Plus, you’ll benefit from advanced planning for continued operation of your own agency during and shortly after such a disaster.

PowerPhone’s Disasters and the Dispatcher: Expecting the Unexpected class will train you in the very best pre-arrival survival instructions to use during the most intense calls you may ever experience.

Topics

• Emergency management
• Pre-arrival survival instructions
• Journalistic investigative approach
• Incident Command System (ICS)
• National Incident Management System (NIMS)
• Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP)
• Concept of Operations (CONOPS)
• Three classes of threats
• Natural disasters
• Man-made disasters
• Unified call taking principles
• Interactive role-playing exercises

Outcomes

• List the fundamentals of emergency management and how the local, state, and federal government may become involved when a disaster occurs.
• Describe the Incident Command System and how it relates to the PSAP and the role of the call handler. The training will include that required by the federal government for Level 100 ICS training.
• Demonstrate the steps needed to assure continuity of operations (COOP) of the PSAP during and immediately following a disaster.
• Describe the most common natural disasters including floods, hurricanes, winter storms, and earthquakes. Recognize and discuss pre-arrival instructions critical in such emergencies.
• Describe responses and pre-arrival instructions for man-made disasters classified as intentional or accidental occurrences caused by human activity such as oil spills or acts of terrorism such as bombing.
• Demonstrate unified call taking principles to multiple scenarios that reinforce the importance of how vital emergency management is to the telecommunication center while using such PowerPhone tools as the Journalistic Investigative Approach 5W + H + W + H + I.

Availability

• This course is available online as either a self-paced program.

Please contact us for pricing details.

Make a difference on the next domestic violence call you handle with our Domestic Violence Intervention course.

PowerPhone’s bestselling Domestic Violence Intervention course arms telecommunicators with the latest tactics for handling these incredibly volatile and complex incidents.

Public Safety Telecommunicators will learn what questions to ask and what instructions to give when faced with different types of domestic violence 911 calls. Dispatchers will also benefit from an in-depth look at courtroom testimony and how it impacts you as the first person to respond to a domestic violence call for help.

The Domestic Violence Intervention training covers a wide variety of scenarios occurring in every community including the handling of language barriers and cultural or religious differences. Course content includes sections on protecting children through emergency call handling and dealing with legal issues such as restraining orders.

By completing this course, you’ll gain the confidence and skills you need to protect victims and responding officers.

Topics

• Role-playing exercises
• Essentials of courtroom testimony
• Defense tactics to discredit witnesses
• Public opinions of domestic violence
• Definition of domestic violence
• Characteristics of battered victims
• Abusive relationships
• Cultural/religious differences
• Language barriers
• Stalking
• Cycle of violence
• Restraining orders
• Children and domestic violence
• Legal issues
• Abandoned calls

Outcomes

Define domestic violence and identify the seriousness and impact of these incidents on society, as well as the Telecommunicator’s role.

• List the four forms of domestic violence and the Cycle of Violence.
• Identify the characteristics of the batterer and the domestic violence victim and situational and psychological obstacles that prevent a victim from leaving abusive relationships.
• Identify barriers for seeking help for the immigrant victim.
• Describe legal issues pertaining to domestic violence.
• Identify several tactics to utilize when handling domestic violence calls.
• Describe how to deal with children who have witnessed and or report domestic violence.
• Identify the Telecommunicator’s role in protecting police officers and the caller/victim.
• Identify the Principles of Effective Testimony and Courtroom preparation for the Telecommunicator.
• Identify law enforcement liability related to the negligent handling of domestic violence calls.

Availability

• This course is available online as either a self-paced program or scheduled instructor led sessions.

Please contact us for pricing details.

Prepare to respond to potential or in-progress terror threats.

Threats to national security are at an ever-present high. America’s leaders have asked citizens to serve as their eyes and ears to help prevent terrorist attacks. And where will citizens turn if they think there’s the possibility of a terrorist threat? 911.

PowerPhone’s Homeland Security for Telecommunicators course specifically addresses citizen calls reporting terrorism-related issues. Make sure your emergency call handling operation is prepared to handle and escalate reports from the public.

911 is the first line of defense. The course includes in-depth examinations of everything from protecting responders to the many types of potential threats and targets that dispatchers should monitor.

Homeland Security for Telecommunicators training prepares dispatchers to understand the Telecommunicator’s role related to homeland security calls and prepares your public safety call handling operations to reduce the potential for crisis related to national security.

Topics

• Nuclear, biological and chemical threats
• The terrorist psyche
• Identifying potential targets
• Hazardous materials incidents
• Protection of responders
• Coordinating inter-agency response
• Incident and Unified Command Systems

Outcomes

• Understand the telecommunicator’s critical role in homeland security.
• Help reduce the potential for crisis related to national security.

Availability

• This course is available online as either a self-paced program.

Please contact us for pricing details.

Get the latest techniques and tactics for defusing hostage situations and handling demands for hostage negotiations.

With workplace, school violence, and domestic disturbances all on the rise, there is a good chance your agency will have to handle hostage negotiations or situations in your communications center. And when that hostage call comes in, it will be up to your emergency call handler to act quickly and confidently to save lives.

PowerPhone’s Hostage Negotiations course provides the techniques, tactics, and confidence your public safety call-handling team needs to negotiate and defuse calls involving hostage-related incidents.

Topics

• Bonding and establishing trust
• Barricading and containment
• Verbal tactics
• Influence and compliance
• Barriers to effective communication
• Rule of reciprocity
• “Golden Bridge” technique
• Methods of intervention
• Negotiation principles
• Scene safety management
• Situational indicators
• Pitfalls of negotiating

Outcomes

• Identify the need for training of telecommunicators in dealing with hostage situations.
• Examine the steps and tactics used to negotiate hostage situations and the phenomenon of Stockholm Syndrome.
• Identify and assess the demands of a hostage taker.
• Utilize valuable verbal tactics and Active Listening Skills.
• Demonstrate the Negotiation skills learned in a role-play scenario.
• Explain the impact of Critical Incidents and Critical Incident Stress Debriefings.

Availability

• This course is available online as either a self-paced program or scheduled instructor led sessions.

Please contact us for pricing details.

Achieve excellent non-emergency call handling in your emergency call center.

Whether it’s 911 or 311, your call center will receive non-emergency calls. How your call takers respond to citizens is crucial to building a successful image for your agency. You don’t need to look further than today’s news headlines to see what happens when callers are dismissed or handled unprofessionally. Loss of public confidence results, as do lawsuits in cases where a “non-emergency call” actually turns out to be a serious incident.

PowerPhone’s Non-Emergency Call Handling course addresses a major need in many call centers: how to efficiently handle non-emergency calls while maintaining professionalism.

Topics

• First impressions
• Customer service goals
• Developing a telephone personality
• Barriers to effective communication
• Journalistic investigative approach
• 300 call syndrome
• Reaction principle
• Telephone answering techniques
• Message taking
• Administrative call handling
• Screening callers
• Call transfers
• Information gathering
• Managing stress
• Avoiding burnout

Outcomes

• Be prepared to professionally respond to all types of calls.
• Learn essential communication skills that have been proven effective in call centers around the world.

Availability

• This course is available online as either a self-paced program or scheduled instructor led sessions.

Please contact us for pricing details.

Protecting Emergency Responders.

911 call handlers play a vital role in ensuring the risks emergency responders could face at the scene of an emergency, are safely managed. Protecting Emergency Responders teaches you about recognizing these dangers when gathering scene information. Then, by communicating these details to responders on route, help to minimize their risk exposure.

Topics

• Felonious line-of-duty deaths
• High-risk crimes and incidents in progress
• Groups that target law enforcement
• Extremist and street gangs
• Dispatcher tactics to protect officers
• Responder safety in motor vehicle stops and domestic violence calls
• Barricaded suspects and active shooters
• Radio dispatch procedures and etiquette
• Descriptive information gathering
• Critical incident stress debriefing

Outcomes

• Recognize threats to responder safety.
• Provide pre-arrival survival instructions for responders.
• Identify potential suicide-by-cop scenarios.
• Maintain radio etiquette during high-risk incidents.
• Create a safer response environment.

Availability

• This course is currently only available online as scheduled instructor led sessions.

Please contact us for pricing details.

Strengthening Public Safety on College Campuses

This course trains Public Safety Telecommunicators how best to handle 911 calls about sexual and domestic violence, particularly from the vantage point of college campuses.

By examining the specific role that 911 Call Handlers play in calls involving domestic violence, sexual assault, and acquaintance rape, this course teaches PSAPs how to create a safer environment for both domestic violence victims and for law enforcement responders dispatched to the scene.

This course also covers liability exposure for PSAPs and Call Handlers including negligent call handling of domestic violence and sexual assault calls as well as methods used to prepare for courtroom testimony and the tactics used by defense counsel to discredit a Telecommunicator’s testimony.

Studies show that one in four college women report unwanted sexual contact sometime during college. A college’s public safety personnel are often the first to hear of such incidents. This course is designed to facilitate stronger communication between the caller, Call Handler and law enforcement in such incidents.

Topics

• The Dynamics of Domestic Violence
• Tactics for Handling the Domestic Violence Call
• Sexual Assault and Acquaintance Rape
• Courtroom Testimony
• Liability

The online version of this course incorporates conversation between students and the instructor through four forum activities. Each activity has five different options for students to choose from enabling them to refine the course around their specialty areas. All students must successfully complete a 25-question multiple-choice exam to be awarded their certificate of completion.

Outcomes

• Define domestic violence, sexual assault, and acquaintance rape and identify the seriousness and impact of these incidents on college campuses.
• List the four phases of the Cycle of Violence.
• Identify the characteristics of the batterer and the domestic violence victim and the situational and psychological obstacles that prevent a victim from leaving abusive relationships.
• Describe legal issues pertaining to domestic violence, sexual assault, and acquaintance rape.
• Identify several tactics to use when handling domestic violence, sexual assault, and acquaintance rape incidents.
• Identify the Principles of Effective Testimony for the telecommunicator.
• Identify law enforcement liability exposure related to the negligent handling of domestic violence and sexual assault crimes.

Availability

• This course is available online as either a self-paced program or scheduled instructor led sessions.

Please contact us for pricing details.

Stress identification and management reduce dispatcher burnout and turnover

As an emergency telecommunicator, you help save lives every day. But when was the last time you did something to manage your day-to-day stress?

Public safety call handling agencies have very high burnout and turnover rates. PowerPhone’s Stress Identification & Management course trains your staff to identify and manage their biggest stress sources both inside and outside the communications center.

Topics

• Job analysis
• Symptom and stress identification
• Stress inventory scale
• Examination of stress responses
• Cumulative job stressors
• Critical incident stress for telecommunicators
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Critical incident stress debriefings
• Stress management techniques

Outcomes

• Distinguish the difference between stress and stressors.
• Identify the expectations and beliefs associated with stress.
• Define burnout and identify how to cope with it.
• Understand the concept and processes associated with Critical Incident Stress and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
• Apply stress management techniques specific to one’s personal and professional life.

Availability

• This course is available online as either a self-paced program or scheduled instructor led sessions.

Please contact us for pricing details.

Preparing dispatchers for suicidal callers.

Suicide intervention is one of the most impactful interactions an emergency call handler can have with a caller. With the stakes so high, suicide calls can strain even the most experienced dispatchers.

With an estimated 50% of 911 dispatchers answering at least one suicide-related call during their career, knowing what to do when a suicide-related call comes in is vital to a resolution. Proper preparation and training play an equally crucial role in equipping dispatchers to process the mental and emotional toll of these extremely stressful calls.

This course focuses on suicidal calls from the dispatcher’s perspective by answers the question of what to do when a suicidal call comes in with interactive content, audio examples from actual calls and expert faculty analysis examining the calls from every angle.

Topics

Taking this course will help students learn:

• Best practices for handling each type of suicide call (found body, first-party suicidal caller, third-party reported suicide attempt)
• How to build rapport with suicidal callers
• Helpful questions to ask a caller threatening suicide
• How to deal with critical incident stress stemming from suicide-related calls

Outcomes

After successfully completing this class, students will be able to:

• Describe the extent of suicide in the United States and how it impacts their jobs as Telecommunicators.
• Identify the types of suicide calls that can be received.
• Discuss what to do when faced with a caller reporting a completed suicide or possible suicide attempt, or a caller threatening suicide themselves.
• Discuss how to use active listening skills to build rapport with a first-party suicide caller.
• Identify the possible effects of handling a suicide call.

Availability

• This course is available online as scheduled instructor led sessions.

Please contact us for pricing details.

PowerPhone’s Continuing Education Subscription is an online program that offers a cost-effective way to keep your team current on the latest trends that impact 911 and public safety.

Our Subscription Program is a cost effective way for your dispatchers to maintain continuing education credits. Comprised of twelve individual short courses, each equivalent to one credit hour of training, that are designed to be taken t a time and place convenient to the student and their agency.

Topics

• The topics available vary to ensure they have relevance to students from all agency types (Police, Fire and EMD). The available content is refreshed every six months to ensure that twelve topics are available at all times. For a list of current topics, please check out our course catalog.

Outcomes

• Convenience – learn at your own pace.
• Interactive – narrated with multimedia and brain teasers.
• Budget adherence –Significant savings on travel and overtime.

Please contact us for pricing details.