This is the Broadnet Dispatch System – your network command centre - access from the Portal Dashboard by the top picture of two screens saying - To Dispatch 

From here you will end up with this screen:

From here you can monitor incidents, assign incidents to operatives and generally keep track of your operatives

Incident Tracker

This section of the screen is your incident tracker. From here you can create incidents and assign them to your operatives to deal with. You can also track their progress and sort incidents to manage your assignments more efficiently.

The Map

This is your map. It tracks the location of all active handsets on your network via GPS. Each handset is marked with a coloured pin indicating their current status.

Available

At Scene

Busy

Rest

Off

Handset Tracker

This section monitors the handsets assigned to your network. It allows quick access to tracking and monitoring specific handsets, which can be handy in both crowded and dispersed map screens.

Setting Up a Base Station

Every team needs a good base of operations - here's what you need to get yours started.

Dispatch Terminal - Computer/Laptop/Tablet

This is where the action happens. Dispatch can be accessed through the BroadNet website on any device connected to the internet. For smaller 'on the go' operations, a tablet may suffice but for larger or more permanent operations we recommend a dedicated computer with a stable internet connection and a reasonably sized screen (the bigger, the better).

Base Station Radio Terminal

Monitoring channel traffic and allowing your operator to communicate directly with users (when not using text chat), a base radio terminal is a must for any base station.

For this, we strongly recommend a proper base station radio terminal for permanent or semi-permanent operations. While a handset will do the job just fine, the base station allows for much less fiddly operation and a more natural communication style with a push to talk handset.

We recommended the BN900 Pictured above from BroadNet. 

Setting up a Base Station on Dispatch

Step 1:

First navigate to Dispatch through the BroadNet Portal. Once you have the Dispatch window open, select the   tab from the column on the right.

Step 2:

This is the base station selection tab. Here you will see listed all terminals that are currently connected to your network. Select the terminal that you will be using as your base station by clicking on the username specifically assigned to your terminal.

Step 3:

Flipping back to the terminals tab, you'll see your terminal now has the base station icon assigned to it. You're now all set up and ready to begin operations on Dispatch.

Creating an Incident

If you have an address:

Step 1:

Click '+Incident' from the panel in the top left of the Dispatch screen.

If you don't have an address:

Step 1:

Right click on the map in the location you wish to create an incident.

A blue question mark will appear in that location.

An alert will appear above the incident tracker asking if you wish to create an incident at this location.

Click on the alert to proceed.

Step 2:

A window will appear asking for details about the incident: A summary of the incident itself, incident type, etc. 

If you have the address of the incident, this is where you will enter it. If you have marked the location of the incident on the map, the location address will be automatically filled.

You will also be prompted to enter details regarding the individual(s) reporting this incident under Reporting Party. This is largely for record keeping, but is also useful for allowing Dispatch to easily contact the reporter if necessary.

All of this information will be passed on to the handset users assigned to the incident, so make sure that they have all the details they need.

The Delayed Job section is to allow jobs that need to be attended to at a certain time to made available beforehand to handset users (as opposed to responding to incidents as and when they come in). Set the time the job needs to happen at and proceed as normal.

Once this form has been filled in, select Create Incident.

Step 3:

Dispatch should now display the details of your new incident. From here you can make changes or update the incident with notes as you see fit. To access this window at any time, simply click on the corresponding incident in the left hand column.

The 'Times' section at the bottom of this window lists the metrics for your users (response times, time spent in custom states, time before incident resolution, etc). This is an addon for Dispatch which is not available under the standard subscription.

Modifying the Incident Location

You should now be able to see your incident on the map view marked by a red warning triangle.

For whatever reason, should you need to change the position of the incident location, you can click/tap and drag the incident marker to wherever you need it to be.

Alternatively, you can change the incident location by opening the incident details window and clicking 'Edit' in the Location section. From here you can update either the normal address, or the what3words address.

When you're done, click 'Update Incident'.

Assign the Incident

Step 1:

We'll need to assign this incident to a handset user to resolve the situation, so select the assign user button on the incident tracker panel on the left of Dispatch.

Step 2:

A window will appear offering several different ways to assign your new incident.

To assign an incident to a specific user, look in the Individual User and Queue User sections:

• 
  Individual User is where all handset users that are switched on and listed as 'Available' are displayed. Clicking on a specific user in this section will immediately assign the incident to them (as detailed in step 7).
• 
  Queue User displays all handset users that are switched on but are currently listed as 'Busy' or any other status that marks them as unavailable (already working on another incident, resting, etc.). Selecting a user in this section will assign the incident to that user, but will only notify them of it once they list themselves as 'Available' again.

To notify groups of people to an incident, look in the All users on Channel and All users on Callsign sections:

• 
  All users on Channel is used to broadcast an incident to everyone currently using a specific channel. If you select a channel in this section, all handsets currently listed as 'Available' on this channel will be notified of the incident, allowing multiple users to respond and work on it together.
• 
  All users on Callsign lists all current callsigns listed on your Dispatch system. Selecting a callsign will notify all 'Available' users assigned to that callsign of the incident, allowing multiple users to respond and work on it together.

Step 3:

The selected handset(s) will now alert their users to the incoming incident.

Users have the option to accept or reject the incident. Accepting sets the user to 'Deployed' while rejecting sets the user to 'Busy' to inform Dispatch of their current situation.

Step 4:

You will now be able to easily identify in the incident tracker the username and callsign of the person who has accepted the incident. This will also be available in the incident details screen.

Removing an assigned Handset

If you need to remove a handset from an incident, click on the incident to bring up the incident details window. Here you can remove an assigned handset by clicking the “Remove” button beside the handset user name.

Adding a Note to an Incident

As new information becomes available regarding an incident then notes can be added by either the operator or handset user.

Adding Notes from Dispatch

1.

While looking at the details of an incident click 'Add Note'.

2.

A modal will appear with a text box where the note should be typed in.

Once you are done, click Create Incident note and the Incident will be displayed with the new note added.