CritiCall Cross-Referencing and Map Reading: How to Practice Both

Cross-referencing and map reading are the quiet sections of CritiCall. No audio rushing at you, no caller talking over noise. That's exactly why people underprepare for them. They look easy, and then the clock runs out with half the items left.

Here's what each one asks for, based on CritiCall's own candidate guide and an agency that publishes its test sections, plus a simple way to practice both at home.

What cross-referencing measures

CritiCall's candidate guide lists two abilities that make up this kind of work:

• Finding information on a list. The guide's example is finding a name in an alphabetical telephone book.
• Spotting what's the same and what's different. Recognizing whether bits of information, like addresses or names, match or don't.

Put those together and you have the job in miniature. A caller gives you a name. You find the right record, pull the right detail, and enter it exactly. One wrong letter in a street name can send help to the wrong place.

CritiCall isn't the only test built this way. The National Testing Network's computer simulations test includes a section called Cross Search and Entry, where you look at a driver's license record and type the requested details into boxes. Different vendor, same core skill.

How to practice cross-referencing

The CritiCall guide gives a specific drill. Have someone read and spell a person's first and last name from a phone book. You find the address that goes with that name, then type it into a computer exactly as it's written. Do one name at a time until you're quick and accurate.

No phone book in the house? Any long, sorted list works: a printed contact list, a spreadsheet of names and addresses, a parts catalog. The point is the motion: hear it, find it, check it, type it.

Three habits make the difference:

• Check the whole entry, not the first match. Lists are full of near-twins. Smith and Smyth. Main St and Main Ave. Confirm every part before you type.
• Type exactly what's written. The guide says "exactly as written in the book." Don't fix spelling or expand abbreviations unless you're told to.
• Get used to capitals. The guide warns that many parts of the test only let you type in UPPER case, the same way dispatch software does. Don't let that slow you down on test day.

What map reading measures

Scottsdale Police publishes the CritiCall sections its communications applicants take. Its map reading section measures "the ability to use maps for determining routes and locations." You get a series of scenarios where you pick the most direct route while obeying all traffic rules, and you give directions on maps shown on screen.

Notice that second part: obeying traffic rules. The shortest line on the map isn't always the right answer if it means driving the wrong way down a one-way street.

The good news: the CritiCall guide says no prior map-reading training is needed. The maps are very basic. What you do need is to know and follow simple directions like left and right.

Some agencies describe this skill a little differently. Jeffcom 911 in Colorado lists "position locating" among the skills its CritiCall test checks, alongside data entry, multitasking and decision making.

How to practice map reading

The guide suggests practicing out loud on a very simple map. Describe the quickest route from point A to point B using "left" and "right," and also "North," "East," "South," and "West." It also suggests using an online map to make up more practice routes.

A few ways to make that drill stick:

• Turn the map in your head, not on the table. Left and right flip when you're heading south. Practice routes going in every direction, not just up the page.
• Say the street names. "Turn right on Oak" is more useful than "turn right." Get used to naming each street as you go.
• Watch the one-way arrows. If your practice map shows one-way streets, follow them. That's the traffic-rule part of the test.
• Do both directions. Pick the route, then write it out as turn-by-turn directions. Choosing a route and giving directions are two different skills, and the Scottsdale description mentions both.

The real enemy is the clock

Neither section is hard in slow motion. Almost anyone can find a name in a list or trace a route if they have all day. The test doesn't give you all day.

And the clock isn't the only thing pulling at you. The official guide says emergency-message pop-ups can appear while you're working on other tasks. You get 15 seconds to pick Police, Fire, EMS, or Utility, and a late answer gets no credit. Learn the four decision rules in the guide ahead of time, so a pop-up costs you a second instead of your place in the list.

So once you're accurate, time yourself. Then try to beat your time without losing accuracy. When you can do both, you're ready.

Where these sections fit

Cross-referencing and map reading are two of the clerical skills that show up across the CritiCall battery. If you want to see the full set, our CritiCall practice test overview lists every section. The Data Entry page covers the typing-from-a-record side of this same skill.

When you want to try a few questions for yourself, the free practice questions on DispatchPrep are a good place to start.