911 dispatcher hiring assessments
Practice for the CritiCall test
Timed drills for the skills this assessment measures — data entry, cross-referencing, character comparison, memory, decision making, map reading and typing — including the emergency interruptions that catch most candidates out.
DispatchDrills is an independent practice-test provider. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Biddle Consulting Group, Inc., and CritiCall is Biddle Consulting Group, Inc.'s property. The name is used here descriptively, to identify the assessment our practice material prepares you for. All of our practice questions are original work. Full disclaimer.
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What the CritiCall test is
The most widely used pre-employment assessment for 911 dispatchers and public-safety telecommunicators in the United States. It is modular: an agency picks which components to run, so no two agencies test exactly the same set.
Administered by Biddle Consulting Group, Inc..
The honest answer
What score do you need?
There is no single national pass mark. Each agency sets its own cut score for each module it uses, which is why candidates who pass at one department fail at another with the same performance.
You will find sites quoting a specific pass mark, and sometimes a specific pass rate, for this assessment. We do not, because we cannot source them. When each agency sets its own minimum for each component it chooses to run, a single universal figure structurally cannot exist — and the numbers that circulate trace back to marketing copy rather than to the vendor or to any agency.
The practical consequence is that the only number worth having is the one your agency uses. It is on the job posting more often than candidates expect, and when it is not, asking the recruiter is a normal question that gets a normal answer.
What we can tell you is what each component measures and how to get better at it. That is the part that is actually within your control.
Modules that appear in this assessment
This battery is modular and the administering agency picks its combination, so you will not necessarily sit all of these. Each page explains what the module measures and how to improve at it.
Data Entry
Type caller and incident details into a fixed-field form, accurately, against the clock.
Cross-Referencing
Look a value up in a reference table and report the matching record.
Character Comparison
Decide whether two strings of letters and numbers are identical.
Typing Speed & Accuracy
Timed typing runs with live words-per-minute and accuracy scoring.
Math & Probability
Arithmetic, elapsed time, distance and simple probability questions.
Data Entry with Emergency Interruptions
Data entry, interrupted by emergency messages you must answer within 15 seconds.
Cross-Referencing with Emergency Interruptions
Table lookups, interrupted by timed emergency messages.
Spelling
Identify the correctly spelled word from a set of options.
Sentence Clarity
Choose the clearer, better-constructed version of a sentence.
Reading Comprehension
Answer questions on a short passage of procedural text.
Memory & Recall
Study details for a short period, then answer from memory.
Decision Making
Choose the appropriate action in a dispatch scenario.
Map Reading
Find the fastest legal route on a street grid, respecting one-way streets and closures.
Call Summarization
Read a rambling call transcript and write the summary a responding unit would need.
Also part of this assessment, not built yet
Audio Data Entry, Multitasking. We list these so you know what you're not getting today. Buying now includes them when they ship, at no extra cost.
How to prepare
Ordered roughly by how much difference each one makes.
Find out which components your agency actually runs
This is a modular battery. The agency choosing it decides which components to include, so two departments hiring for the same job can test very different things. The job posting and the agency's candidate information are the only reliable sources for what you will sit. Preparing for components you will never see is wasted effort, and being surprised by one you did not know about is worse.
Get your typing to a comfortable margin first
Where a typing requirement applies, it is usually a hard gate rather than a scored component — you clear it or you do not continue. It is also the most improvable thing on the list, and it is the one where a few weeks of consistent practice moves the number most. Our typing drill is free and reports net WPM alongside accuracy.
Practice divided attention deliberately, not incidentally
Being strong at data entry on its own tells you very little about how you perform when an emergency message interrupts you mid-record with a short clock on it. That is a separate skill and it needs separate practice. It is also the single most common thing candidates report being blindsided by, and almost no practice material simulates it.
Work on your weakest component, not your favorite one
Practice drifts toward whatever you already enjoy, which is usually whatever you are already good at. Run each module once, look at the breakdown, and spend your time on the two lowest. That is uncomfortable and it is where the improvement is.
Sit down for full-length runs, not five-minute samples
Most people's accuracy holds for the first minute or two and then drifts. A short burst will tell you your ceiling; a full-length run will tell you your actual performance. Only one of those is the number that matters.
Common questions
What score do I need to pass?
There is no single national pass mark. Each agency sets its own minimum for each component it chooses to run, which is why candidates can perform identically and get different outcomes at different departments. Anyone quoting you a universal cut score or a pass rate is guessing — check the job posting and the agency's own candidate information.
How long does the assessment take?
It depends entirely on which components the agency selected, since the battery is modular. The agency administering it will tell you what to expect when they schedule you.
Can I practice on a phone?
Partly. The reading, memory, cross-referencing and decision-making modules work fine on a phone. Data entry and typing do not — they measure physical keyboard speed and accuracy, and a touchscreen will give you a score that means nothing.
Is this practice test the real thing?
No, and we would not claim otherwise. We build original timed drills for the skills the assessment measures. We do not reproduce, and will not accept from candidates, any material from a live examination. Practicing the skills is both the legal approach and, since formats change, the more durable one.
Practice the interruptions, not just the typing
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