NEXT GEN QUALITY ASSURANCE FOR PSAPJohn Wynia May 7, 2014

Overview of Quality Assurance

Current QA Methods

Next Gen QA Solution

Q&A

WHY QA

Purpose of QA

Promote service excellence

Adherence to standards, procedures and policies

Consistent performance and level of service

In the QA process we want to evaluate the operator’s strength as well as identify areas for improvement

CALEA Public Safety Communications Accreditation Program

APCO Project 33 Training Program Certification

IAED – International Academies of Emergency Dispatch

NENA’s Recommended QA/QI Standards (to be released)

Main Requirements/Recommendations Common to all: Establish fair and consistent evaluation program Evaluate both call taking and dispatch processes Document the QA evaluations Enable the operator to provide feedback on their evaluations Generate reporting on evaluations

Standards and Accreditation Authority’s

Developed by NENA Development Standards Committee Quality Assurance Working Group

Created to assist with the establishment, implementation and maintenance of a QA/QI program

Defines R&R of the Agency and the Evaluator

To be approved by APCO Standards Development Committee and released within few weeks

Upcoming NENA/APCO Standards for QA/QI

Adherence to protocols and standard operating procedures

Overall performance of each operator

Customer service (Positive attitude

Effective use of resources (Caller details verified? Entered into CAD properly)

Quality of operation as a whole

What to QA

Seamless/Non-intrusive – should not impact operators behavior

Random/Fair – not picking specific bad / good calls

On-going – not one time but part of standard process

Consistent – eval form, etc

Comprehensive

Documented

Automated

Attributes of an Effective QA Program

METHODS OF QA

Manual

Semi automated

Automated

Next Gen QA

Methods of QA Programs

Word/Excel-based evaluation forms

Search and replay call

Advantages: Easy to learn Low investment Doesn’t require additional application

Disadvantages: Cumbersome process Hard to follow consistent and fair selection Highly time consuming reporting

Manual QA Process

N/ A YES NO 0- 2 2#2 Correct Location Asked/ Entered : N/ A YES NO 0- 10 10#3 Location Verbally Verified: N/ A YES NO 0- 10 10

N/ A YES NO 0- 5 5#5 Address/ Name of RP Verified: N/ A YES NO 0- 2 2#6 Call Classification YES NO 0- 10 10

N/ A YES NO 0- 2 2N/ A YES NO 0- 5 5N/ A YES NO 0- 5 5N/ A YES NO 0- 2 2N/ A YES NO 0- 3 3N/ A YES NO 0- 5 5N/ A YES NO 0- 5 5N/ A YES NO 0- 5 5N/ A YES NO 0- 2 2N/ A YES NO 0- 2 2N/ A YES NO 0- 5 5N/ A YES NO 0- 10 10

#19 Ascertained RP Contact: N/ A YES NO 0- 3 3N/ A YES NO 0- 5 5N/ A YES NO 0- 2 2

0- 100ptsAvailable

Scores Of: 0- 64 65- 79 80- 94 95- 100Comments:

U N S EOverall Rating:

#11 Medical Needed / Fire added

#16 Direction of Travel:

100

#15 Vehicle Information:

Event #

#21 Proper Closing Remarks:

#1 Proper Greeting:

#4 Telephone Number Verified:

SHOO

#8 Customer Service:

#10 Victim Information Requested: #9 Positive Attitude towards Caller:

#14 Suspect Information / Entered:

#20 Completed in Appropriate Time:

#7 Used Language Line (If nec)

#18 Appropriate CAD Updates:

#12 Drugs or Alcohol Involved:

#17 Kept RP on line if Appropriate:

#13 Weapons Involved (In Resd):

QA COMPETENCIES

COMMUNICATIONS CENTER "911" Quality Assurance Audit

Dispatcher Name: Audit Date:

Event Time:

Event Date:

Reviewed By:

Location of Event:

Score % - Rating

Automated form based but not necessarily tied to audio recording

Doesn’t include screen and other media

Provided by non-logging vendors

Advantages: Procedure specific, e.g. medical dispatch Built for accreditation – e.g. IAED, Total Response

Disadvantages: The user has to deal with two applications: reply and evaluation Manual selection of calls – could be perceived as inconsistent and unfair Limited to call-taker (phone only) evaluation

Semi Automated

Based/built for Commercial Call Center

Limited to single call – call-taker phone interaction

Partial compliance with QA accreditations/standards

Screen recording is optional, limited to single screen

Advantages: Allows random selection of calls Complete evaluation while listening to the call and watching screen activity Includes reporting capability

Disadvantages: Not comprehensive – no way to look at the entire incident handling process No way to include multimedia incident data

Automated

NEXT GEN QA SOLUTION

Next Gen QA

Designed bottom up for Public Safety environments

Compliance with CALEA, APCO P33 and the upcoming NENA Standards

Tied to the incident communication capture system: phone, radio, text, screen, video, GIS, etc.

Next Gen QA Requirements

Call selection Manual – important for high attention calls Truly random Flexible – minimum number of calls per incident type, user, etc.

Complete incident capture and review Capture and synch all incident related voice recordings: phone and radio Capture and synch operator’s screen Assess operator’s quality of incident handling involving all forms of incoming data

Targeted coaching and training Easily pin point knowledge gaps, e.g.: text interaction, reference to GIS data, etc. Provide needs-based coaching and training to groups or specific operators Ensure operator on track acquiring new skills and adhering to evolving procedures

Next Gen QA Requirements - Screen Recording

Capture all screens of operator’s workstation

Compliments entire incident evaluation

What action did the operator take on CAD / CPE / other?

Operator’s Workstation

Replay Workstation

Next Gen QA Requirements - Reporting

Activity reporting – insight into the volume of phone and radio traffic to help support decisions on staffing

QA reporting - quality performance and trending each individual staff member

Measure performance against KPIs to maintain QA and Training accreditations

Supervisors and Training Managers: Reconstruct and evaluate Identify knowledge gap Provide proper training

Operator: ‘how am I doing?’ Review evaluations Feedback and sign-off

PSAP Managers: Periodic reports to gauge overall

team’s and center’s performance Take improvement measures

Workflow that Involves All Users

Call / Incident Evaluation

OperatorReview

ManagementReports

EXAMPLE OF A NEXT GEN QA APPLICATION

20

Automatic Selection of Calls for QA

Evaluation of Incident as a Whole

Phone call and related

dispatch radio

Fill evaluation while listening

Multimedia Incident Evaluation

Operator’s Feedback

Flexible Evaluation Form Design

Reporting Capability

Reduced turnover

Empowered call taker/dispatcher

Increased Professionalism

Adherence to existing and evolving protocols (e.g. Text-to-911)

Effectively and efficiently run PSAP

The Value of Next Gen QA Program

Thank You