Careers > Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance

Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance

$44.83K Median Salary 18.7K Job Openings (Annual Projection) 4.3% Job Growth

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About This Career

Schedule and dispatch workers, work crews, equipment, or service vehicles for conveyance of materials, freight, or passengers, or for normal installation, service, or emergency repairs rendered outside the place of business. Duties may include using radio, telephone, or computer to transmit assignments and compiling statistics and reports on work progress.

Reported Job Titles

Aircraft Dispatcher, Charter Coordinator, City Dispatcher, Dispatcher (Dispatch), Mine Dispatcher, Paratransit Dispatcher, School Bus Dispatcher, Taxi Dispatcher, Train Dispatcher, Truck Dispatcher

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Skills You'll Need

Click on skills to find related courses.

Abilities

Oral Comprehension

Oral Expression

Speech Clarity

Speech Recognition

Deductive Reasoning

Near Vision

Problem Sensitivity

Written Comprehension

Written Expression

Selective Attention

Information Ordering

Category Flexibility

Inductive Reasoning

Knowledge

Customer and Personal Service

Public Safety and Security

Administration and Management

Administrative

English Language

Transportation

Personnel and Human Resources

Computers and Electronics

Skills

Active Listening

Speaking

Coordination

Monitoring

Reading Comprehension

Time Management

Complex Problem Solving

Critical Thinking

Judgment and Decision Making

Service Orientation

Social Perceptiveness

Writing

Active Learning

Technology Skills

Enterprise resource planning ERP software

Presentation software

Mobile location based services software

Data base user interface and query software

Electronic mail software

Aviation ground support software

Expert system software

Customer relationship management CRM software

Spreadsheet software

Geographic information system

Helpdesk or call center software

Office suite software

Operating system software

Word processing software

Route navigation software

Data base reporting software

Time accounting software

Internet browser software

Map creation software

Calendar and scheduling software

Computer aided design CAD software

Tools

Two way radios

Rail switching systems

Railway signaling systems

Special purpose telephones

Interactive voice recognition equipment

Teletype input devices

Automatic call distributor ACD

Notebook computers

Touch screen monitors

Vehicular global positioning system GPS

Desktop computers

Personal computers

Digital telephones

Abilities

Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

Knowledge

Customer and Personal Service: Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Public Safety and Security: Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Administration and Management: Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Administrative: Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
English Language: Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Transportation: Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Personnel and Human Resources: Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Computers and Electronics: Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Skills

Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Coordination: Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Time Management: Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Complex Problem Solving: Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Judgment and Decision Making: Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Service Orientation: Actively looking for ways to help people.
Social Perceptiveness: Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Writing: Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Active Learning: Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.

Technology Skills

Enterprise resource planning ERP software: Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne; Oracle PeopleSoft; Oracle PeopleSoft Financials; SAP software
Presentation software: Microsoft PowerPoint
Mobile location based services software: Global positioning system GPS software
Data base user interface and query software: Blackboard software; Database software; Microsoft Access; Yardi software
Electronic mail software: IBM Notes; Microsoft Exchange; Microsoft Outlook
Aviation ground support software: ArduPilot Mission Planner
Expert system software: MASterMind
Customer relationship management CRM software: Blackbaud The Raiser's Edge; Microsoft Dynamics; Salesforce.com Salesforce CRM
Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel
Geographic information system: ESRI ArcView; Geographic information system GIS systems
Helpdesk or call center software: Help desk software
Office suite software: Microsoft Office software
Operating system software: Microsoft Windows
Word processing software: 3M Post-it App; Evernote; Google Docs; Microsoft Word
Route navigation software: Navzilla
Data base reporting software: SAP BusinessObjects Crystal Reports
Time accounting software: Timekeeping software
Internet browser software: Web browser software
Map creation software: ESRI Site Scan for ArcGIS; OpenDroneMap
Calendar and scheduling software: Appointment scheduling software
Computer aided design CAD software: Autodesk AutoCAD; Autodesk Revit