We are often asked what the difference is between “structured” and “standardized emergency call request” – 2 terms that are often discussed and have never been clearly described. As NoraTec GmbH, we want to shed some light on the gray area from our point of view at and describe 3 key differences:
With a “structured emergency call request”, the procedure for the emergency call request is defined by the control center operator.
In practice, this means that query scenarios have to be developed by users or the ÄLRD and recorded in software or folding card-like systems. This means a considerable amount of work for the protagonists, not only in the creation, but especially in the maintenance/updating of the content.
In the case of “standardized query systems”, these processes are developed and maintained by the provider using the standards of the professional associations/committees; folding cards are only used for outdated systems.
From NoraTec GmbH’s point of view, the most important difference is that “structured emergency call answering systems” do not generate unique alarm keywords and transfer them to the incident command system (DCS).
This means de facto, that the dispatcher makes structured queries according to his employer’s specifications, but then has to decide for himself which alarm keyword best matches his query – a considerable source of error, especially with regard to legal certainty.
“Standardized query systems” automatically determine the predefined alarm keyword and transfer it to the ELS.
“How well do you work in the control center?”, “How good is the quality of the control center?” – Strictly speaking, most control center operators are unable to provide sufficient information in response to these questions – values such as query, response and arrival times or the number of call-outs only provide very limited information about the quality of a control center.
One finding from industry, aviation and medicine is that reliable “hard” data is required for meaningful quality management, which can only be collected through standardized processes.
This means de facto that a serious assessment of quality in the area of emergency call inquiries with a “structured emergency call inquiry” is not possible due to the lack of standardized inquiry processes.
