NTN ECOMM Test: Both Versions, Scoring, Retakes and Prep

If a dispatcher job posting tells you to register with National Testing Network rather than wait for the agency to schedule you, you will be sitting NTN's Emergency Communications exam, which almost everyone calls the ECOMM test. The content is developed by Ergometrics and delivered through NTN, and the way it works is different enough from agency-run testing that it is worth understanding before you pay to book a seat. Everything below is taken from NTN's own candidate pages, and we flag where what circulates online does not match them.

If you want to start practicing now, our ECOMM practice test page lists the drills that match each part, and free practice needs no account.

The ECOMM test at a glance

Question	What NTN says
Who makes it	Ergometrics & Applied Personnel Research, delivered through National Testing Network
Versions	Comprehensive (video-based) and Express (written tests plus computer simulations)
How long	Approximately 2 hours for either version
Where	At a test center, or from home with live online proctoring
Cost	Varies by location, test and department, and is shown at checkout; fees are non-refundable
Who sees your score	Each department you designate
Passing score	None set by NTN; each department chooses its own standards
Score validity	One year from your test date
Retakes	Wait at least three months; retesting deletes your previous scores and job list
Official practice test	None for ECOMM

How the NTN model works

With most agency-run tests, you apply, the agency invites you, and the result belongs to that one hiring process. NTN reverses that. You create a candidate account, choose the departments you want to apply to, pay, and book your own sitting. Once you have tested, NTN gives your scores to every department you designated. One sitting can support several applications.

That has consequences worth planning around:

• Choose your departments before you test. NTN's FAQ says there is a base fee plus a cost for each department. After you test, you can only add jobs or departments that opened since your test, at $15 per job.
• Treat the booking seriously. One result goes to every department on your list, so a weak day costs you more than one application. Do not book early "just to see what it is like."
• Ask about the fee. Exam fees are non-refundable, but NTN says some agencies offer fee waivers and departments can cover testing costs through a voucher program. Check the job listing or ask before you pay.
• Read the listing for extra requirements. Participation varies. Some departments also require a typing test, their own interview or further testing, and some only accept scores from a recent window. Our guide to becoming a 911 dispatcher covers how to read a posting for this.

The Comprehensive version

NTN lists three parts, with a total test time of about two hours.

• CallTaker Video Test. You watch video scenarios of call takers handling emergency calls and take notes as they play. Each call stops at a critical decision point and you choose the best course of action from multiple choices. NTN says the items "play without stopping," and that the test is not about policy: everything you need is in the scenario.
• Recording Pertinent Information Test (the note-taking test). You read statements about the calls you just watched and, using your notes, mark each one Correct, Incorrect or Unsure. The notes you took during the videos are what you have to work with, so this part rewards notes that captured the right details the first time.
• Dispatcher Test. A multitasking test. You keep track of four units in moving situations, and as new calls come in you decide which units to send based on where they are and what they are doing, whether to send them immediately, and whether medical also needs to go. NTN says no dispatch experience is needed.

The first two parts are linked. NTN says "the notes you take during this test segment will be used to answer questions in a later test segment," so your notes during the videos are not an aid, they are the input to a scored test you have not seen yet.

The Express version

The Express exam also runs about two hours, but most of it is written rather than video:

• CallTaker test. A written multiple-choice situational judgment test: you read scenarios about common call-taker situations and stressors and pick the best response.
• Dispatcher test. A written multitasking test that uses maps to help you track three field units and two medical units, deciding which to send as new calls arrive.
• Computer simulations. Data entry, listening and understanding, and cross-search and entry.
• Role Fitness Questionnaire. Measures call center suitability, job compatibility and work-specific personality dimensions.

Confusingly, NTN still names the Express judgment segment the "CallTaker Video Test," but describes it as "a written multiple-choice situational judgment test": you read the scenarios rather than watch them, and there is no linked note-taking test.

Comprehensive and Express side by side

	Comprehensive	Express
Call-taker segment	Video, with note-taking	Written scenarios
Separate note-taking test	Yes	No
Units to track	Four field units	Three field units, two medical
Maps provided	Not stated by NTN	Yes
Computer simulations	Not listed	Yes
Personality questionnaire	Not listed	Yes, Role Fitness Questionnaire

In practice, Comprehensive loads memory and note discipline; Express loads breadth, with keyboard simulations and a questionnaire instead of the video and note-taking pair. Because the two versions really are different, find out which one your agency uses before you prepare. "ECOMM" on its own does not distinguish them. The job listing on NTN usually says; if it does not, ask the agency.

The online data entry and computer simulations test

Some departments also use a separate Data Entry and Computer Simulations Test (NTN also calls it ECOMM National Computer Simulations). It takes about 35 minutes and you take it through your NTN candidate account at a time that suits you, before the testing window for your job closes. NTN says it cannot be taken on a mobile device and recommends headphones. Its parts are a personal self-assessment, data entry of license plate numbers, data entry of names, listening and understanding, and cross search and entry, where you work from a driver's license record on one side of the screen into data-entry boxes on the other. Two things catch people: NTN says you will not be able to see your score, and you cannot retake this test by itself.

NTN says the plate and name tasks are about getting through "as many as possible," and both give you a control most candidates under-use. NTN says the plate number can be repeated, and the caller's name can be repeated or spelled. A repeat costs seconds; a wrong entry costs the item. Ask for a repeat, or a spelling of an unusual surname, when you are not sure, and push on when you are. Because you take it at home, the conditions are your responsibility: NTN says it must be taken on a computer with a keyboard, in a quiet environment with no help from others, and strongly recommends headphones because many questions have a listening component. And since you cannot see the score or retake it on its own, do not treat a first attempt as a practice run.

The NTN typing test

If a department requires typing, NTN's typing test is its own product: a five-minute, unproctored online test taken through your candidate account, where you type displayed paragraphs into a text box. It reports adjusted words per minute, capitalized words must be capitalized to count as correct, and uncorrected mistakes count against both your speed and accuracy. NTN says it needs Google Chrome on a laptop or desktop, and that you can retake it for a fee. The speed you need is set by the department. Our dispatcher typing test guide explains adjusted and net speed, and the free typing test gives you a comparable number.

Scores, validity and retakes

NTN does not decide who passes. Its FAQ says "individual departments choose scoring standards based on department needs," and departments contact you if you move on in their process. Some set a separate minimum for each section, so a strong result on one part may not rescue a weak one. Any single "ECOMM passing score" you read online is one department's choice at best.

Scores are kept for one year from your test date, after which you have to retest to keep being referred, and a department can choose to accept only more recent scores. You must wait at least three months to retake the standard tests. When you do retest, NTN deletes your previous scores and every department job from the original application, so you have to select all of them again when you buy the new test.

Working each part of the Comprehensive exam

The CallTaker Video Test

NTN says "the test items play without stopping." There is no pause, no replay and no thinking time you control: a call runs to its decision point, you answer, and the next one begins. The harder problem is that you are scored on judgment now and on your notes later, and the two pull against each other. Good judgment wants you watching; good notes want you writing.

• Write only what you cannot reconstruct. Names, numbers, addresses, times, weapon or vehicle details, and who is where. You will remember that a caller was frightened; you will not remember the house number.
• Use a fixed shape per call (who, where, what, who else, hazards) so fragments still read back, and do not try to transcribe.
• Look up for the decision point. That moment is where the judgment item is.
• Rank the options from the scenario. Anything that addresses a risk to life comes first, then what gets help moving (location above almost everything), then verification and detail, and options that defer or put the caller on hold usually last. Be wary of the option that calms the caller fastest while leaving the danger unaddressed. This is general reasoning for a judgment test, not operational instruction; in a real center your agency's protocols govern.

The note-taking test: Correct, Incorrect or Unsure

Here you read statements about the calls you just watched and mark each one Correct, Incorrect or Unsure from your notes. A true/false format rewards guessing; a third "Unsure" option asks whether you actually captured the detail or are reconstructing it, which is a real dispatch habit. So use Unsure when you genuinely are unsure, not as a hedge on everything hard. NTN does not publish how the three responses are weighted, and we will not guess at it. Read each statement in full: one that is three-quarters right is Incorrect. Most of your result here was decided during the videos, so keep each call's notes clearly separated and put a question mark next to anything half-heard at the time.

The Dispatcher Test

On each call you make three decisions: which units to send, whether they go immediately, and whether medical also goes. Choosing the nearest free unit is not hard; what makes it demanding is that both inputs, where a unit is and what it is doing, keep changing. The usual failure is building a picture early, then answering every later call from a stale one.

• Update after every event, the moment a unit is assigned or clears, not when you next need it.
• Check status before position. A busy unit is unavailable wherever it is, which rules it out faster than working out distances.
• Treat "send now?" and "medical?" as separate questions. Both are easy to drop while you concentrate on unit selection.
• On the Express written version, annotate the map. It is there to carry the picture for you.
• Let a lost call go. Recovering the current picture matters more than reconstructing what you missed.

How to prepare for the ECOMM test

ECOMM does not test knowledge of dispatch procedures, so preparation is about the skills each part leans on.

• Build a note-taking system. Use a fixed layout for every call: location first, then what is happening, then people, vehicles and weapons, then anything the caller corrects. Abbreviate the same way every time. Practice on a radio call-in show or podcast you cannot pause, then check whether your notes let you answer specific questions ten minutes later. Our guide to listening and typing at the same time covers capturing information on the move, and the call-taking drill gives you recorded calls to take notes on and questions to answer afterwards. It is audio rather than video, so it trains the note-taking habit rather than NTN's format.
• Answer judgment items from the scenario. NTN says candidates "are only asked to know what is stated during the tests." Pick the response that best fits what you were shown, using general public-safety sense — safety of people first, information that gets help moving — rather than a specific agency's procedures. NTN's test-taking tips add: assume everything is normal unless the question tells you otherwise, and stick to the facts presented.
• Practice tracking several units. Keep a consistent mental order for the units and update a unit's status the moment it changes, not at the end of the scenario. Why candidates fail the multitasking sections explains why the switching, not the individual tasks, is what costs points, and the unit assignment drill practices deciding which units to send from where they are and what they are doing.
• If you have the Express version or the simulations test, drill data entry. Names, plates and license records into fields, accurately. Data entry and cross-referencing practice map directly onto the simulations.
• Answer every question. NTN's free test-taking tips sheet says there is no penalty for guessing on its tests. That is the opposite of California's POST dispatcher test, so do not carry that habit between the two.
• Do one full-length session. Two hours of sustained attention is its own challenge, and a virtual session can run longer with no breaks.

What people get wrong about ECOMM

• "NTN sells an ECOMM practice test." It does not. The Ergometrics practice tests on NTN's site are for its other public-safety exams, such as fire, corrections and transit. What NTN offers ECOMM candidates for free is its test information pages and a test-taking tips sheet.
• "ECOMM has spelling, reading and memory sections." Neither version's component list includes spelling, reading comprehension or an unaided memory test. Those are features of other tests, such as CritiCall batteries.
• "You need X% to pass." NTN sets no pass mark; departments do.
• "ECOMM is the National Dispatcher Selection Test." The NDST is a separate product from a different publisher. If your agency's letter names one specifically, prepare for that one.
• "NTN eCall" or "ECOM." NTN's pages call the exam Emergency Communications or ECOMM; we found no NTN product called eCall.

ECOMM compared with CritiCall and POST

	NTN ECOMM	CritiCall	California POST
Who books it	You, through NTN	The agency	The agency
Format	Video or written, plus simulations	Computer, agency-selected modules	Paper, with audio tests
Score goes to	Every department you designate	The testing agency	The testing agency
Guessing	No penalty, per NTN	Skipped questions penalized unless told otherwise, per Biddle	Wrong answers cost a fraction of a point

For a side-by-side of how to tell which test you are sitting, see what is on the 911 dispatcher test. For the CritiCall details, see the CritiCall test guide.

Sources

• National Testing Network, Emergency Communications exam (both versions and their components)
• National Testing Network, Candidate FAQ (fees, adding departments, score validity, retakes, scoring standards, practice tests)
• National Testing Network, Data Entry and Computer Simulations Test
• National Testing Network, NTN Typing Test
• National Testing Network, Test pricing

Segment descriptions and quotations re-checked against NTN's pages on 2026-09-25.

ECOMM is a trademark of the National Testing Network, Inc. CritiCall is a registered trademark of Biddle Consulting Group, Inc. DispatchDrills is an independent practice provider and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the National Testing Network, Inc., Ergometrics or Biddle Consulting Group, Inc. We do not reproduce exam content; all examples in our material are original and illustrative.

Common questions

What is on the ECOMM test?

It depends on the version. The Comprehensive exam has a CallTaker Video Test, a note-taking test answered from your notes, and a Dispatcher Test tracking four units. The Express exam has a written call-taker judgment test, a written dispatcher test with maps, computer simulations (data entry, listening and understanding, cross-search and entry) and a Role Fitness Questionnaire.

How long is the ECOMM test?

NTN lists both versions at approximately two hours. Its FAQ says a standard video test can take up to about two and a half hours, and the separate online computer simulations test takes about 35 minutes.

What is a passing score on the ECOMM test?

NTN does not set one. Each department chooses its own scoring standards, and some set a minimum for each section. Check the listing or ask the department.

How much does the NTN ECOMM test cost?

NTN does not publish a single price: it varies by location, test type and the departments you choose, and the total is shown at checkout. Adding a newly opened job after testing costs $15 per job. Fees are non-refundable, and some agencies offer waivers or vouchers.

Can I take the ECOMM test at home?

NTN offers virtual testing from home with live proctors, as well as test centers. The separate data entry and computer simulations test is taken online through your candidate account and cannot be taken on a mobile device.

How long is my score valid, and when can I retake?

Scores are kept for one year from your test date. You must wait at least three months to retake, and retesting deletes your previous scores and the department jobs on your original application.

Can I pause or replay the ECOMM videos?

No. NTN says the CallTaker Video Test items play without stopping, so capture details on the first pass.

Should I ever answer Unsure on the note-taking test?

Yes, when you genuinely are. The three-way format exists to separate what you captured from what you are reconstructing. NTN does not publish how Unsure is weighted.

Do I need dispatch experience or knowledge of agency policy?

No. NTN says candidates do not need any dispatching experience for the Dispatcher Test, and that all information needed to answer is provided in the test.

Is ECOMM the same as CritiCall?

No. They come from different companies and work differently: ECOMM is booked through NTN and shared with the departments you choose, while CritiCall is a modular computer test run by the hiring agency. Both assess overlapping skills, which is why practicing those skills helps with either, but a score on one is not a score on the other.