911 dispatcher hiring assessments
Practice for the ECOMM dispatcher test
Timed practice for the skills this Ergometrics-authored exam measures. Its components are a video-based CallTaker situational-judgment test, a note-taking test worked with your notes in front of you rather than from unaided recall, and a dispatcher test on tracking multiple units at once. Our drills train the underlying skills — listening for the facts that matter, taking notes you can still use two minutes later, and holding several moving units in your head — plus the divided-attention work most practice material leaves out.
DispatchDrills is an independent practice-test provider. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Ergometrics & Applied Personnel Research, Inc., and Emergency Communications (ECOMM) Exam is Ergometrics & Applied Personnel Research, 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 ECOMM dispatcher test is
An Ergometrics-authored assessment distributed through the National Testing Network. Candidates typically pay to sit it and can share their score with multiple participating agencies. It is a different product from the National Dispatcher Selection Test (NDST), which is published by Stanard & Associates — the two are frequently confused.
Administered by Ergometrics & Applied Personnel Research, Inc..
The honest answer
What score do you need?
Participating agencies set their own minimum scores and decide which components they weigh.
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.
Typing Speed & Accuracy
Timed typing runs with live words-per-minute and accuracy scoring.
Spelling
Identify the correctly spelled word from a set of options.
Reading Comprehension
Answer questions on a short passage of procedural text.
Memory & Recall
Study details for a short period, then answer from memory.
Also part of this assessment, not built yet
Audio Data Entry. 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.
Check which agencies will receive your score
Candidates typically pay to sit this test and can then share the result with multiple participating agencies. That makes it worth deciding in advance which agencies you want to apply to, because it changes whether a single sitting covers your whole application list.
Treat the score as the shared currency it is
Because one result can go to several agencies, a weak sitting has wider consequences than a single failed application would. Going in prepared matters more here than it does for a one-agency process.
Build the keyboard skills early
Data entry and typing improve steadily with consistent practice and barely at all with cramming. If you have weeks rather than days, that is where the time converts into score most reliably.
Practice taking notes you can still read under pressure
The note-taking component is note-assisted, not a memory test — you keep your notes and work from them. That sounds easier than it is. The failure mode is notes that made sense while you were writing them and are useless ninety seconds later. Develop a fixed layout, abbreviate consistently, and write the location first every single time.
Get used to answering from video, not from text
The CallTaker component is video-based situational judgment: you watch a scenario and choose a response. That is a different reading task from a written item — you cannot scan back over it, and the information arrives at the speed the video plays. Practicing only on written questions leaves you unprepared for the pace.
Work on holding several units in your head at once
The dispatcher component is about tracking multiple units and their status simultaneously. That is a working-memory load rather than a knowledge test, and it responds to practice: a consistent mental order for units, and a habit of updating it the moment a status changes rather than at the end of a transmission.
Common questions
What score do I need?
Participating agencies set their own minimum scores and decide which components they weigh. There is no universal figure, so check with the agencies you intend to apply to rather than relying on a number quoted online.
Do I take this at an agency or through the testing network?
It is distributed through the National Testing Network rather than by an individual agency, though the exam itself is authored by Ergometrics. The network's own candidate information is the authoritative source on scheduling, cost and how score sharing works.
Is this the same thing as the National Dispatcher Selection Test?
No, and the two are confused constantly, including by sites that ought to know better. The ECOMM exam is an Ergometrics product. The National Dispatcher Selection Test, or NDST, is a separate product published by Stanard & Associates. If your agency's letter names one of them specifically, that is the one to prepare for — check which you are actually sitting rather than assuming.
Is it the same test as the CritiCall assessment?
No — different vendor, different format. CritiCall is a modular keyboard-and-screen battery from Biddle Consulting Group; this exam is video and note-based. The underlying skills overlap, which is why our drills train the skills rather than imitating one vendor's presentation.
How is your practice material related to the real test?
It is not derived from it. Everything we publish is original work built around the skills the assessment measures. We do not reproduce live examination material and will not accept it from candidates.
Practice the interruptions, not just the typing
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