Dispatcher

As a Dispatcher, you work in either public safety or transportation, and you are the link between “home base” and those out on the streets. Dispatchers work within a specific area and with specific Drivers, communicating and coordinating with them to relay instructions about their assignments. You schedule and dispatch workers, as well as keep a close record of all of the dispatches. To complete your tasks, you use radios, telephones, and other wireless devices.

Your duties as Dispatcher vary depending on where you work. If you’re in public safety, you receive phone calls from civilians in emergency situations. You ask questions, determine how serious the situation is, and perhaps even give some first-aid instructions over the phone. Then, depending on the conditions, you send a call out to Police Officers, Paramedics, or Firefighters, and the respondents nearest to the emergency will go.

If your work is in transportation dispatch, you are a professional organizer, dispatching deliveries, trucks, buses, trains, taxis, and tow trucks. You make sure that cargo is moved from point A to point B, deliveries are made on time, and transportation vehicles are where they need to be when they need to be there. You are also, at times, a representative of the company you work for, taking calls from customers, and dealing with service transactions. But for the most part, you will be radioing out to Drivers and keeping logs of all dispatches.