I suffer from a common dispatcher ailment: migraine headaches, and in my case I also have frequent tension and stress headaches as well, I can't sleep. On top of that, my mind tends to go a mile a minute with a thousand thoughts. So, last night when I was up and down all with one of my bad ones, I tried to take my mind off the fire in my brain with random thoughts.
One of the items I mulled over was our computerized radio/telephone system. I thought about what I liked about it and what features I would like to see as future updates. Instead of complaining to our technicians, when I went to work today, I wrote an email with my suggestions and my reasons why I believed my ideas were good ones. He forwarded my email to the company liason, who in turn, sent a query to me with a few questions. It turns out a couple of my suggestions might become reality.
Another co-worker believes in the CAD system we use. He talked his way to becoming one of the Administrators. He's the strongest advocate for the computer-aided-dispatch (CAD) program in dispatch and is working to get the RMS portion to the Game Wardens in order that they might do reports on laptops. He truly believes it would be a time-saver if field personnel could write reports while patrolling. It will probably begin as a pilot project with a handful of units. I still have my personal concerns about the program as a whole mostly due to the software, but that is my opinion.
Don't get me wrong: I'm pro-CAD - I'm just not jumping up & down about this particular one. To be fair, I have told the chief this to his face, along with our Captain, the Dispatch Supervisor, and anyone else in Dispatch who'll listen. I give them a laundry list of reasons as part of my explanation. This is the seventh CAD system I've used over my career, so I do an idea about what I'm talking about.
okay....
Bottom line there, identify a problem, find a solution, and then go to the Supervisor or Administration. It's 100 times better than just sitting around and complaining. those who sit about and bitch are tuned out and those who come up with fixes come out shining.
Oh, and the headache - hasn't gone away - but maybe I'll come up with another idea to pass on. One thing communications centers are good for, problems or one sort or another. :-)