When the critical calls come, Chris Beck and his colleagues answer them.

“We can go from complete silence to the phone lines lighting up where everyone in the room is either processing a call or dispatching field units to the emergency location,” Beck said.

As his shift starts, Beck settles into his chair and puts on a headset. His hands are free to type quickly into the computer as the caller dictates key details about their emergency situation.

When calls reach the center, their general geographic location often dictates who gets the call, but when things get hectic whoever is free will pick up.

“All of our phones ring, and we police ourselves,” Beck said. “We're fortunate on our shift, everybody backs each other up.”

After establishing the type of call, the operator begins working through a list of questions to gather the basics, including the name of the caller, their phone number and the municipality they're in. They send the appropriate units, and then they ask what happened.

A computer software helps guide them through specific questions, and as they get more information they relay the important pieces to the units either on their way or already at the scene.

Technological advances have also given operators more ways to assist those in the field, including access to traffic cameras, license plate readers and specialized tracking software.

Although the technology isn't perfect, it helps more often than not, and it's another aspect the operator has to juggle along with the call.

“The job itself requires a great deal of attention to detail and the ability to multitask,” Beck said.

Sometimes it's necessary to improvise, but often it's better to stay with the scripted questions.

There are times when the script can't be followed, however, and there are times when it's not available, entirely, such as a system failure.

Beck said there are also calls outside the normal realm of expectation.

“What keeps a good dispatcher on their toes is that you never know what the next call you answer is going to be,” he said.

Beck's journey to becoming a 911 operator started in high school. He had an interest in law enforcement, and while still in school, he became active as a firefighter and EMT.

As a senior in high school, he heard about an opening for Armstrong County, a part-time dispatcher.

“The dispatching kind of encompassed everything,” he said.

Beck continued working three days a week for Armstrong County, and he continued dispatching through college. He earned a business degree, and hung up the headset for a career in the world of appraisals.

“To me, it wasn't exciting, “ Beck said. “I lasted just six months and went back to dispatching.”

For training, Beck said, when he started the only certification needed was for dispatching medical calls. He said now a person needs to be certified in dispatching all three major areas — fire, medical and police.

Also 15 years ago, Beck only needed about 350 hours of training to reach the necessary maturation for the role. Now that training program is close to 800 hours. After that's achieved, dispatchers still need about 48 hours of continued education for every recertification period.

“It's changed drastically,” Beck said.

According to Beck, not every dispatch facility — but many — now also require years of prior experience in emergency services. But unlike some jobs where “entry-level experience” is hard to come by, there are options to be pursued.

“Emergency services” can mean a lot of things other than previously working as a dispatcher, including volunteer firefighter, police officer, EMT and others.

Beck said when you work in these roles, you see the scenes in-person that a dispatcher will likely have to envision as they navigate the situation. He said it also gives an idea of how certain departments work with others and the division of responsibility.

“You can tell when someone comes in if they have public safety experience,” he said. “It's night and day.”

Beck said having previous experience also insulates a person a bit from the demanding and sometimes stressful aspects of the job.

Beck said some calls are emotionally difficult to handle while others can be frustrating. He said dispatchers commonly fall out of the loop when it comes to the results of these incidents, and not knowing how things turned out can be tough.

“One necessary quality of a good dispatcher is while we may be worked up ourselves over the situation, the key is to remain calm and try to effectively communicate with the upset or irate caller,” he said.

Beck said despite the challenges of the job, the reward comes from the feeling of helping others and knowing lives were saved, babies were delivered and people were helped from their effort.

“While demanding and stressful, the job is rewarding,” Beck said.