Next Gen Quality Assurance for PSAP

1. Next Gen Quality Assurance for PSAP John Wynia May 7, 2014

2. Overview of Quality Assurance Current QA Methods Next Gen QA Solution Q&A

3. Why QA

4. 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

5. Standards and Accreditation Authority’s • 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

6. Upcoming NENA/APCO Standards for QA/QI • 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

7. What to QA • 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

8. Attributes of an Effective QA Program • 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

9. Methods of QA

10. Methods of QA Programs • Manual • Semi automated • Automated • Next Gen QA

11. Manual QA Process • 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

12. Semi Automated • 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

13. 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

14. Next Gen QA Solution

15. 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.

16. 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

17. Next Gen QA Requirements - Screen Recording Operator’s Workstation • Capture all screens of operator’s workstation • Compliments entire incident evaluation • What action did the operator take on CAD / CPE / other? Replay Workstation

18. 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

19. Workflow that Involves All Users • 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 Call / Incident Evaluation Management Reports Operator Review

20. Example of a Next Gen QA Application

21. Automatic Selection of Calls for QA

22. Evaluation of Incident as a Whole Fill evaluation while listening Phone call and related dispatch radio

23. Multimedia Incident Evaluation

24. Operator’s Feedback

25. Flexible Evaluation Form Design

26. Reporting Capability

27. The Value of Next Gen QA Program • Reduced turnover • Empowered call taker/dispatcher • Increased Professionalism • Adherence to existing and evolving protocols (e.g. Text-to-911) • Effectively and efficiently run PSAP

28. Thank You