Communications Officer

Position: Communications Officer I
COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER I - PUBLIC SAFETY (CALL RECEIVER)

Employee Association

BASIC FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

This position provides a critical link in the delivery of public safety service, being the first and most important contact with the citizen needing help. The Communications Officer I must develop a timely, rapid and accurate sense of call interpretation and decision-making/problem solving skills during stressful situations. This position must remain calm, showing empathy, conveying reassurance and instilling confidence in the caller that the proper response to their needs will result.

The employee is required to deal with sensitive information in a discreet and professional manner and reports directly to the Supervisor.

This position is responsible for receiving incoming calls for police, fire and emergency medical aid, and non-emergency requests from the public via 9-1-1 lines and other seven-digit telephone lines. Employee obtains information from callers who may be injured, confused or abusive, and determines which, if any, agencies should respond to the event. Employee must enter initial information into the computer while maintaining contact with the reporting party to gather additional pertinent information.

Additional information must be entered into the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system in a timely manner so that the original call is continually updated. Performance is evaluated through electronic monitoring of Communication Room activities and through direct observation of performance by the Supervisor. All voice and data entry work performed by the Communications Officer I is continually recorded and is constantly subject to live monitoring for later review and critique and may include public disclosure of such work.

This position is represented by the Valley Communications Center Employees Association Bargaining Group.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

• Answers emergency and non-emergency calls for service, simultaneously enters this information into the computer using a CAD System and continues to enter updates in a timely manner.
• Calms, negotiates, advises and otherwise communicates with callers to obtain accurate and essential information necessary to establish priority and initiate a timely response to emergency calls.
• Remains calm, shows empathy, conveys reassurance and instills confidence in the caller through a demeanor that will result in proper response to their needs.
• Determines the appropriate agency/agencies that should respond to an incident.
• Processes more than one call at a time.
• Assists other employees as necessary when not occupied with primary call answering duties.
• Attends mandatory trainings and/or meetings as directed.
• Performs additional duties as directed.
• Be reliable, dependable and report for work on a consistent and predictable basis.
• Consistently thinks clearly and responds quickly in a wide variety of emergency situations.
• Gathers, organizes, translates and processes information from various emergency callers in an accurate and timely manner.
• Accurately type 35 net words per minute while listening and conversing simultaneously.
• Supports the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agency (CALEA) accreditation program.
• Work shift work encompassing a 24-hour day, seven-day week; inclusive of odd hours, days, evenings, nights, weekends and holidays
• Ability to meet ACCESS/FBI/CJIS requirements, including maintaining a record free of felony convictions.

INTERPERSONAL CONTACTS

Contacts are made both inside and outside the organization. Internal contacts frequently include the Communications Officers, Supervisory staff and Administrative personnel. External contacts may include Center customers, outside vendors, governmental personnel, applicants and citizens. This position is representative of the Center and therefore it is critical that all interactions are respectful and professional. Interactions tend to focus on information exchange and the receiving and giving of procedural changes.

A majority of external interactions are via telephone or electronic exchange.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE OF/SKILL IN:

• Valley Com service area, including streets and landmarks.
• Map reading…