The ECOMM Dispatcher Test: Tracking Units on Screen

The Dispatcher Test is the ECOMM segment that most resembles working a radio. It is also the one NTN is most reassuring about: "candidates don't need any dispatching experience."

What it involves

NTN describes the video version, used in the Comprehensive exam, as one that "looks at basic multitasking skills, key for learning and performing the job".

The mechanics: "candidates are presented with moving situations and keep track of four police units. When new calls come in, candidates will decide which units to send based on two things: where the units are, and what they're currently doing."

Three decisions are asked of you on each call:

• Which units to send
• Whether units need to be sent immediately
• Whether medical also needs to be sent

The written version

The Express exam has its own Dispatcher Test, and the differences are not cosmetic. NTN: "the written dispatch test looks at basic multitasking skills that are key for learning and performing the job. Test takers are presented with maps to assist in keeping track of three police units and two medical units. When new calls come in, the test taker decides which police and medical units to send, if any."

So: three police plus two medical instead of four police, and maps are provided. The video version asks you to hold the moving picture yourself; the written version gives you something to look at. If you are sitting Express, using the map properly is most of the task.

Two variables, tracked continuously

What makes it demanding is not the decision — sending the nearest free unit is not hard — but that both inputs keep changing. Where a unit is changes as it moves. What it is doing changes as it is assigned, arrives and clears. The picture you built two calls ago is wrong now.

The failure mode is almost always the same: a candidate builds a mental model early, stops updating it, and starts answering from a stale picture. Every answer after that is confidently wrong.

How to work it

• Update after every event, not every call. When a unit is assigned or clears, revise the picture immediately rather than waiting until you need it.
• Track status before position. A unit that is busy is unavailable wherever it is, which eliminates it faster than working out distances.
• Answer the immediacy question separately. "Which unit" and "does it go now" are two different judgements, and the second is about the call rather than the unit.
• Do not forget medical. It is a separate decision and easy to drop when you are concentrating on unit selection. In the Express version you are assigning medical units specifically.
• On the written version, annotate the map. It is there to be used, and offloading the picture onto paper is exactly what it is for.
• Let a lost call go. Recovering the current picture matters more than reconstructing what you missed.

What it is measuring

NTN's own phrase is "basic multitasking skills" — and the emphasis on not needing experience tells you it is an aptitude measure, not a knowledge one. It is testing whether you can maintain and update a mental model of several moving things while new demands arrive, which is the core cognitive demand of the job and largely independent of knowing any particular agency's procedures.

Practising it

Our multitasking drill is built on this shape: a situation that keeps changing while new decisions arrive. Unit assignment covers choosing which units to send against a rule set, and map reading covers the spatial half that the Express version leans on.

Why candidates fail multitasking covers the stale-model failure in more depth. The full ECOMM guide covers the whole exam, and Comprehensive versus Express sets out which version you will face.

Sources

• National Testing Network, Emergency Communications Operator Testing with ECOMM
• National Testing Network, Data Entry and Computer Simulations (ECOMM National Computer Simulations)

ECOMM is administered by the National Testing Network, Inc. DispatchDrills is an independent practice provider and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the National Testing Network, Inc. or Ergometrics. We do not reproduce exam content; every example in our material is original and illustrative.

Common questions

What is the ECOMM Dispatcher Test?

The multitasking segment. You track police units through moving situations and decide which to send as new calls arrive, how urgently, and whether medical is needed.

How many units do I track?

Four police units in the video version. The written Express version uses three police units and two medical units, with maps provided.

Do I need dispatch experience?

No. NTN states candidates do not need any dispatching experience.

What do I base the decision on?

NTN names two things: where the units are and what they are currently doing.

Are maps provided?

In the written Express version, yes. NTN does not list maps for the video version.

Is medical a separate decision?

Yes. Whether medical also needs to be sent is listed as its own decision.