Baker Integrated Technologies
makes communicating easy.
The
dispatch center for Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA), located
in Toronto, Canada, handles an average of 2,700 calls per day related
to airport emergencies (9-1-1), facilities maintenance dispatch and repair,
and security operations.
In 1992, GTAA purchased six stations of Baker's 6750 communications consoles. In April of 1998, they expanded and moved to a new operations center, keeping the old center with it's Baker consoles as a backup. They bought separate phone and radio systems that were integrated onsite for GTAA's new center. Before long, they experienced compatibility problems with the new system. The search began for an integrated phone and radio system. They discovered that Baker had come out with its next generation product - the 7750 system, also called DISPATCHWorks.
"What set DISPATCHWorks apart from other systems we evaluated was its ease of use for the operators," said Burke. "We chose Baker because of the simplicity of the system - everything is in front of the operator on one screen." GTAA installed DISPATCHWorks in June of 2000. "The biggest plus about DISPATCHWorks is the integrated phone and radio package," said Noel Burke, duty manager. GTAA used trade-in credits from their old 6750 system to help purchase a twelve-console system from Baker that handles 48 phone lines and 24 radio channels.
Burke also likes the fact that DISPATCHWorks allows for unlimited speed dial entries, which had been limited in the old system. GTAA's speed dial includes thousands of entries that are categorized and easily retrievable by the operator. Kavita Husein, operations support specialist, said, "Every feature is on the same screen - that makes it easier. The phone to speaker feature is quite nice and easy to use. It is very user-friendly software." Supervisor Terry Zaharia agreed. "It is user friendly - the dispatcher's job is made easier."
"DISPATCHWorks makes sense for us economically because the price per station was reasonable and the overall package allows networking - each operator uses the same platform," said Burke. Burke likes the fact that DISPATCHWorks makes it easy for supervisors to monitor staff workload and allocate resources more efficiently. Beehive indicators display call status, so managers can scan the room and see who is busy or free. A beehive is a set of colored lights that is mounted on a pole beside an operator console to indicate whether the operator is on the phone, has a call on hold, or has calls ringing.
GTAA plans to grow with Baker into the future. They are in the process of purchasing a six-console backup system from Baker to add to their new backup AOCC center.
Copyright 2001 Baker Integrated Technologies, LLC. All rights reserved. Site updated 2/19/01.
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