Which Public Safety Dispatcher Test Will You Take?

"The dispatcher test" isn't one test. Depending on where you apply, you might sit for CritiCall, a National Testing Network exam, a Public Safety Testing written exam, or, in California, the POST battery. They overlap, but they aren't the same, and preparing for the wrong one wastes time.

Here's what the main ones look like, using the vendors' own pages and real agency hiring pages, and how to find out which one is yours.

First, find out which test your agency uses

This takes five minutes and saves you weeks. Look in three places:

• The job posting. Most postings name the test or the testing company.
• The agency's hiring-process page. Many 911 centers publish their steps in order, test included.
• The recruiter. If neither says, email or call and ask. It's a normal question.

Once you know the name, you can prepare for the sections that test actually has.

CritiCall

CritiCall is a computer-based test made for hiring dispatchers and call takers. On its website, CritiCall says it is used by over 1,500 agencies and half of all state police. Its newest version, CritiCall 3D, adds behavioral and situational measures to the operational skills the classic version tested.

Agencies that name it on their hiring pages include Henrico County in Virginia, where applicants can take it remotely on their own computer or on site, and Jeffcom 911 in Colorado. Scottsdale Police in Arizona publishes the sections its applicants take, including data entry, call summarization, memory recall, map reading and reading comprehension.

CritiCall's candidate guide says you'll likely hear information through a headset, enter data in upper case, and answer pop-up "emergency messages" by choosing Police, Fire, EMS or Utility within 15 seconds. It doesn't require any dispatch training to take.

Our CritiCall practice test overview breaks down the full battery, and our guide on how to pass the CritiCall test covers strategy.

National Testing Network (NTN)

National Testing Network is a testing company public safety agencies use. Its page for agencies describes a Data Entry and Computer Simulations test, also called ECOMM National Computer Simulations, with five parts:

• A personal self-assessment questionnaire
• Data entry of license plate numbers you hear from a caller
• Data entry of names you hear from a caller
• Listening and understanding: hear a caller, then judge whether a written statement matches what was said
• Cross search and entry: look at a driver's license record and enter the requested details

NTN says that test is taken through your NTN candidate account, in a quiet place with no help, on a computer with a keyboard, not a phone. It strongly recommends headphones.

NTN also lists separate emergency communications exams. Its comprehensive version includes a call-taker video test, a test on recording pertinent information, and a dispatcher video test that has you track four police units. Ask your agency which NTN test it requires, since they differ.

Public Safety Testing (PST)

Public Safety Testing is another testing company that agencies use, and it lists a "Dispatcher Written Exam" among its test events. One example: the King County Sheriff's Office in Washington has applicants register for its dispatch exam through PST. King County says the exam takes about three and a half hours, and applicants must also pass a typing test at 35 words per minute with 90% accuracy.

If your agency uses PST, its posting and PST's event page are the places to confirm the format and any typing requirement.

California POST

If you're applying in California, you'll likely take the POST Entry-Level Dispatcher Selection Test Battery. We cover it in detail in the California POST dispatcher exam, section by section. Our California agency guides cover 20 departments.

What all of them have in common

The names and formats differ, but the skills keep repeating:

• Typing what you hear. Names, plates and numbers from a caller, entered accurately.
• Listening and remembering. Catching details from a call and recalling them correctly.
• Looking things up. Finding the right record and pulling the right detail.
• Judgment. Deciding what matters and who to send.

That's good news. Practice on those core skills carries over no matter which vendor's name is on your test. Just make sure you also learn the format of your specific test, so nothing on test day is a surprise.

Fees, retakes and scores

These vary a lot. King County, for example, says it covers the cost of its PST exam, though applicants pay for a notarized waiver. Rules on retakes and how long a score stays valid differ too. Your agency's posting or recruiter is the only reliable answer.

Start with the skills that carry over

Whichever test you're facing, listening-to-typing is the skill most worth building early. You can get a feel for it with the free practice questions on DispatchPrep.