911 dispatcher practice
911 Dispatcher Audio Data Entry Practice Test
Type a record read out by a caller or a unit on the radio into a fixed-order form as you listen.
Included in Complete: $49 once for every module, unlimited attempts, no subscription. Own Standard? Upgrade for $20.
What audio data entry measures
Listening and typing at the same time: names spelled out, phone numbers, addresses, VINs, plates and license numbers given in a different order from the form.
These assessments are modular — an agency chooses which components to run and sets its own minimum for each one. We can tell you what the skill is and how to get better at it. We can't tell you what score your agency wants, and anyone who quotes you a universal one is guessing.
A sample audio data entry item
In the drill these are spoken once (synthetic voices) and you answer from what you heard. Here they are written out so you can see what each item asks of you.
Item 1
Caller: Hi, I think my green Subaru Outback got towed from Walnut and Fifth. Call-taker: Your name? Caller: Yeah, it's Sean Schultz. Last name is spelled S-C-H-U-L-T-Z. And Sean is S-E-A-N. Call-taker: Driver's license number? Caller: My driver's license number is S as in Sam, 7 5 8, 2 9 0, 6 1 3, 4 9 0. Call-taker: Home address? Caller: I'm at 5170 Ridgeway Boulevard, in Bridgeport, zip code 12075. Call-taker: Callback number? Caller: My cell is 614, 555, 0120. Call-taker: Plate? Caller: License plate is 7 Y N as in Nancy Y 6 5 1. Call-taker: And the VIN? Caller: The VIN is 5 J as in John L as in Larry 7, K as in kite W as in William U as in umbrella V as in Victor, 8 1 A as in apple 7, 2 7 6 8 2. Caller: That's all I have.
Enter the caller's details into the form, in upper case.
Show answer
Last Name: SCHULTZ First Name: SEAN Telephone: 6145550120 Address: 5170 RIDGEWAY BLVD City: BRIDGEPORT Zip: 12075 Vehicle Identification Number: 5JL7KWUV81A727682 License Plate: 7YNY651 Driver's License: S758290613490
In the drill you hear the call once and type as it plays, then the form is scored field by field.
How our drill works
The run is paced by the recordings. Each one plays once while you type, and the time limit is the total length of the recordings plus a little slack per record — enough to finish a field, not enough to wait for a second hearing. Records cannot be revisited once submitted.
Each run draws six records from a bank of phone calls and radio transmissions, with at least one of each, and every record's answer key was checked against its recording.
When the run ends you get a breakdown, not just a percentage, including per-field accuracy and your typing rate. The point is to show you where the points went, so the next run can be different.
This module needs a physical keyboard. It measures keyboard speed and accuracy, so a phone touchscreen will give you a misleading score in both directions.
Which assessments include audio data entry
Agencies use different vendors, and each picks its own combination of components. This module appears in the batteries below — but check the job posting, because an agency using one of them may not run every part of it.
CritiCall
Biddle Consulting Group, Inc.
A computer-based pre-employment test for 911 dispatchers and call takers from Biddle Consulting Group, which says it is used by over 1,500 agencies. It is modular: Biddle says the software holds over 20 tests and each agency picks the ones that fit its jobs, so no two agencies necessarily test the same set. Biddle puts a typical sitting at one to three hours.
Emergency Communications (ECOMM) Exam
Ergometrics & Applied Personnel Research, Inc.
An Ergometrics-developed exam delivered through National Testing Network, in a Comprehensive (video) version and an Express version. Candidates book it themselves, online with a live proctor or at a test center, and NTN sends the scores to each participating agency they choose. It is a different product from the National Dispatcher Selection Test (NDST), which is published by Stanard & Associates — the two are frequently confused.
How to get better at audio data entry
Specific to this module, and specific enough to change what you do on your next run.
Know the form's order cold before the first recording
The form never changes: last name, first name, telephone, address, city, ZIP, VIN, license plate, driver's license. The speaker's order does. If you know where every field sits without reading the labels, you can jump straight to the right one when a detail arrives out of sequence.
Type as you hear it, not at the end
In the timed run each recording plays once. Holding a whole record in your head and typing it afterward fails by the second or third detail. Type each value while it is being said, in small chunks — a phone number in its three groups, a VIN in the pieces the speaker reads it in.
Put out-of-order details where they belong immediately
When a unit on the radio reads the plate before the address, click or Shift+Tab into License Plate, type it, and move on. Carrying it in memory until the form reaches that field is how plates get lost or land in the wrong box.
Learn the radio phonetics
Field units on the radio read plates and VINs with phonetic words — David for D, Nora for N, King for K. You type the letter, not the word. If you have to translate each word consciously, you fall behind by the third character, so a few minutes learning the common set pays for itself quickly.
Use the review to find what you mishear
After the run you can replay each recording with its transcript and see a character-by-character comparison of what you typed. Most people's misses cluster: letters that rhyme, like B, D, P, T and V, or M and N, or digits dropped from the middle of a long number. Once you know your pattern, you know what to listen for.
Guide: listening and typing at the same time
Doing both at once is its own skill, not the sum of fast typing and a good memory. The usual starting habit is buffering: listen to a chunk, hold it, wait for a pause, type it. It falls apart because while you type the held chunk you are not listening, the chunk decays while you carry it, and distressed callers do not leave tidy pauses. You fall behind, and falling behind makes the buffer longer.
Type continuously
Type from the moment the speaker starts, staying a few words behind rather than a sentence or two. A word on screen a second after it is spoken never has to be held, and holding is where failures come from. This needs typing without looking at your hands or at what you have typed; if you check the screen mid-sentence, you have stopped listening. If you still hunt for keys, build that on the typing drill first.
Location, then what is happening
When information comes faster than you can type, use a rule that fires without thinking: location first, nature of the incident second, everything else in whatever order it arrives. Location is what lets help arrive at all, and it is the hardest detail to recover if the caller drops off.
Accents, noise and corrections
- A word you did not catch: type it as you heard it and keep going; later context often resolves it. Street names are the exception, worth asking to have spelled, early.
- Background noise: expect to miss low-value detail and let it go. On a real call the noise itself (traffic, a smoke alarm) tells you something about the scene.
- A speaker who corrects themselves: on a real call, type the correction next to the original rather than deleting it, because callers who correct once often correct back. On a test that scores final field contents, leave the corrected value.
Practice without purpose-built audio
- Type along with interview podcasts or news and never rewind; the no-rewind rule is what makes it useful.
- Extract rather than transcribe: capture only names, numbers, places and times.
- Set up a few labeled fields in a document and fill them as details arrive, to train tabbing and out-of-order entry.
- Nudge the playback speed up slightly so normal speech feels manageable afterward.
Practice these next
Call-Taking (Audio)
Listen to recorded 911 and non-emergency calls, take notes, then answer detailed questions.
Audio Memory Recall
Hear phone numbers, plates, VINs and caller details, then type them from memory; match spoken codes at speed.
Unit Assignment
Apply a rule sheet to send exactly the right units to each incident.
Multitasking (Checking & Listening)
Check plates and names against a hot sheet while logging unit statuses from live radio traffic.
Common questions
What does audio data entry practice?
Typing while you listen. A caller on the phone or a unit on the radio gives a person's details — names spelled out, a phone number, an address, a VIN, a plate and a driver's license number — in whatever order suits them, and you type each into a fixed-order form while the recording plays. A full run is six recordings, drawn from a bank of recorded records.
Which dispatcher tests use audio data entry?
Biddle describes CritiCall's Computerized Data Entry as typing information candidates hear over a headset, or read on screen, into fixed fields, and results are commonly reported as keystrokes per hour. The National Testing Network's computer simulations for emergency communications also list data entry and listening. Agencies pick which components they use and set their own standards, so check your notice. Our recordings are original, and we do not reproduce any vendor's test.
Can I replay a recording?
Not in the timed run: each recording plays once, with no pause or replay, and the next one starts when you submit. The untimed practice record can be replayed as often as you like. After the run, every recording is available to replay alongside its transcript and a character-level comparison with what you typed.
Can I do it on a phone?
You can open it, but the score will not mean much. This drill measures typing while you listen, so it needs a physical keyboard, and headphones are strongly recommended. Use a laptop or desktop.
How is it scored?
A field counts as correct when every letter and digit matches. Upper case is applied automatically, spaces and punctuation are ignored, and common address abbreviations are accepted, so AVENUE and AVE both score. Your keystrokes per hour counts correct characters across the whole run, listening time included, and records you do not reach count against your field accuracy.
Is audio data entry in Standard?
No, it is part of Complete, $49 once, alongside the other audio and multitasking drills. Standard owners can upgrade for $20. The written-record data entry drill is free, and there is a short free sample of this one with two recordings.
What if I fall behind the speaker?
Stop trying to catch up on what you missed and rejoin at the present. Reconstructing the last twenty seconds while the speaker keeps going guarantees you lose the next twenty too. Get current, then fill the specific gap.
Should I type in full sentences or fragments?
Into a structured form, type exactly what each field needs. In free-text notes, fragments: full sentences cost keystrokes and add nothing.
Practice every module, unlimited attempts
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