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DRAFT DRAFT Attachment - C RGV:322.:5-21-04 1._ RELATIVE STAFFING LEVELS FOR FOUR PUBLIC SAFETY DISPATCH CENTERS IN RAMSEY COUNTY A number of mathematical methods were used to indicate relative staffing levels for six different dispatching models that might be employed for public safety dispatching in Ramsey County. These methods were applied to raw data with the assumptions that all tel~phone and event traffic was arriving and being handled in a random manner at all times, and that the telephone answering standard for all inbound telephone calls would be 95% answered in 15 seconds or less, and 99% answered in 40 seconds or less, during the busier hours of the busiest time periods of the day during the busy month of the year with six percent more traffic added for future growth in activity levels. It was further assumed that there would be additional staff for relief periods of 40 minutes per eight hours for every operator needed at a work station, and that there would be a shift supervisor in the dispatch centers serving the city of St Paul and the Ramsey County Sheriffs Office and dependent cities in the county at all times. It was also assumed that the Ramsey County Sheriffs dispatch center would function in a two-stage manner rather than the single stage manner as is the existing operation. The same criteria indicated in the above paragraph were used for all four existing dispatch centers in Ramsey County so that a relative level of staffing could be indicated between the six models being evaluated by the Dispatch Work Group. I~ While the above criteria can be used to indicate relative levels of staffing, the criteria need some adjustments before a realistic set of data can be determined that can be used to indicate more appropriate levels of staffing. Both the base data available, and appropriate adjustments of the data should be reviewed and evaluate carefully before the actual numbers of each type of workstation and the total numbers of each level of dispatcher staff are determined. Following are some typical adjustments to the above criteria that can be used to suggest appropriate staffing levels for dispatch centers: 1. Establish telephone traffic in average numbers of calls per day and average call connect time during a year. That can be accomplished by obtaining a total number of telephone calls for a year and dividing by the number of days in the year, and by obtaining average call connect time from logging recorders or other call recording equipment. As an alternate, the average number of calls per day received during an average month (April for example) may also be used. The average number of events handled by the dispatch radio operators can also be obtained in a similar manner. 2. Multiply the average number of telephone calls, and the average number of events received, per day by 0.14 to obtain the number of telephone calls and events that are likely to arrive during the busier hour, during the busiest eight-hour time period of . the day during the busy month of the year. This means that we might have 14% of the traffic for the average day of the year during the busier hour of the busiest time PSAPModelComparisonl.S.doc 13