The holiday season is a wonderful time for all kinds of reasons - but for many people it’s also one of the most stressful times of the year.
This can be especially true for public safety professionals like law enforcement, firefighters, 911 dispatchers, and EMS workers. Part of this is due to the fact that so many of them have to work on the holidays, potentially missing out on quality time with family and friends.
But another, often bigger, reason for stress during this time is the fact that if they’re called into action on Christmas Eve, for example, the people they’re helping are likely to be having an even harder time than usual. Calling an ambulance for a family member is always scary; doing it on a day that’s supposed to be one of love and celebration is even scarier.
Because of this, it’s very important that public safety professionals find ways to de-stress this time of year. Here are a few helpful things you can do that will help you relax and refresh your mind and body.
Public safety workers got into their jobs because they wanted to help people - that’s at the core of what they do. But helping people in life-threatening or crisis situations day in and day out can take its toll on the emotions, leaving you feeling depleted instead of fulfilled.
But there are small things you can do for people that will still make you feel great, without taking the emotional toll. Is an elderly person struggling to get their groceries in the car? Help them out, just because. See a mom or dad trying to get a stroller down stairs? Give them a hand - they’ll thank you, and the child will enjoy it too.
These little things will brighten up both your day and that of the person you help. And since these situations are hardly life and death, they’ll allow you to feel all the good that comes with being helpful and kind, without the stress that accompanies helping people in crisis situations.
Nothing replenishes our emotional stores like spending quality time with the people we love. Yet even though this is something we all know, somehow it’s also an activity that we seem to have trouble making time for.
It’s vital, however, in order to maintain and strengthen our relationships with each other. So the next time you’re feeling really stressed, try arranging a coffee or dinner date with someone you care about, and take the time to really listen and talk to one another. Leaving your distractions at home will only make your get-together more enjoyable.
Even if cooking is not something you usually enjoy, it can be fun to put make a recipe that’s easy, quick, or just different from what you generally eat. Sugar cookies are a breeze to whip up, and you can decorate them as simple or fancy as you like - just a swipe of icing will do, or you can go all out and paint snowman or Santa faces on them.
According to the Huffington Post, focusing on a recipe can distract you from outside stress, while ending up with a tangible, finished - and delicious! - product will give you a feeling of satisfaction.
Sunlight is a proven mood-lifter, so take the time to get outside and soak some up this holiday season. Many people suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD, without realizing it, and sunlight can help alleviate these symptoms.
But even if you’re not a SAD sufferer, being in the sunlight still has major benefits. It stimulates your brain to release serotonin, the hormone which helps you feel happy, calm, and focused. And if you can, go for a walk or a run outside on a sunny day - exercise boosts serotonin, too.
Public safety professionals have to prioritize taking care of themselves if they’re going to be able to take care of others. To learn more about stress and this industry, read our blog post on the types of stress that 911 dispatchers often suffer from.
If KOVA can help your public safety organization improve its functioning through workforce optimization software, situation management software, or one of our other offerings, please contact us!
Working during the holidays is, unfortunately, often a fact of life for contact center agents. It can be hard to be one of the people for whom the holiday season means just another busy day on the job, instead of spending time relaxing with family.
When you’re manning the phones while everyone else is digging in to their holiday feasts, it can be understandably hard not to feel a little resentful. That’s why it’s so important for contact center managers to go the extra mile when it comes to agent morale around this time of year. Here are a few ways to keep your workforce happy during the busy holiday season.
We at KOVA hope that you, your families, and your work families have a happy and safe holiday! If we can help you improve your contact center with our workforce optimization solutions, contact us today!
Everyone knows that losing contact center agents to turnover is expensive. In fact, according to Quality Assurance and Training Connection, replacing one frontline agent can cost anywhere between $10,000 and $12,000. And when you multiply that by the high numbers of agents who end up leaving their jobs within a couple of years—between 30 and 45 percent—the costs become almost astronomical.
So what are the most effective ways to reduce call center agent turnover? Here are a few steps you can take to make sure your best agents decide to stick around.
Although this kind of pre-offer skill evaluation is gradually becoming more standard, many contact centers are still sticking to the typical resume-interview-offer order of things. While this can give you some idea of whether the person is a good fit, it’s nowhere near as useful as actually asking the candidate to perform a simulated call (with, of course, enough information about your company and the job requirements to help them succeed).
Consider incorporating some kind of test assignment into your hiring practices—it will not only help you weed out those who are obviously unfit for the position, but help you identify people with outstanding abilities, too.
One way you can help your agents achieve this is to make their software easier to use. No one wants to have to toggle in and out of 10 different programs to get their customer the information they need. Consider implementing programs that integrate all the data your agents use.
The same is true for those on the supervisory or management level. Workforce optimization programs like the Verint Media Recorder Workforce Management system can help your managers gain insight into every area of the organization, so they can staff appropriately, automate time-consuming tasks, and more.
Another way to increase your employees’ job satisfaction is to offer flexible scheduling, like allowing them to work from home for a certain amount of time per week or month, or offering three-day weekends at regular intervals.
And if you really want to increase employee retention, seriously consider using at-home agents. According to studies, contact centers using at-home agents experience a 35-50 percent lower employee turnover rate than those that don’t.
Are you working to reduce employee turnover at your contact center? If you’re looking to make your agents happier by implementing better software, KOVA can help. Contact us about our workforce optimization solutions today!
Contact centers sometimes get a reputation as tough places to work, but they really don’t have to be. Any job can be stressful if you’re working in an environment that doesn’t encourage productivity and success. Maybe the culture at your contact center hasn’t been as strong as you would like lately, or maybe you’re just looking for ways to keep things running smoothly. Whatever the case, we’ve put together some tips for you so that you can end the year on the right foot, and begin the next year the same way.
Keeping the workplace transparent and freeing up lines of communication are two of the best ways to maintain a positive work environment. This means keeping employees updated on important decisions that affect them. Without transparency, you allow speculation to run rampant, and employee morale will suffer accordingly. Being up front and honest with your employees will make life easier for everyone. Understand that this goes both ways, though. You want to make sure that it’s easy for employees to provide feedback without negative consequences. Keep the lines of communication open and flowing, and you’ll see that your employees are much happier.
Nothing saps morale like a long meeting that doesn’t come to any definitive answers, or seem to provide any benefit. Keeping meetings short and to the point is a great way to keep your employees happy and productive. A meeting that drags on and on is going to tire out everyone, yourself included. You won’t be able to keep every meeting as short as you’d like, but making the effort will result in a better work environment.
If you want a positive and productive work environment, you should be making sure that your training is top notch. Training should be hands-on and give the employee everything they need to succeed on a daily basis. If you don’t have the time you’d like to individually train your new employees, try using videos in your training program. We’ve all seen terrible training videos before, but it’s easier than you’d think to find or create great training videos. Employees work better when they’re confident in their own abilities and knowledge. Adequately training all your contact center employees is key to keeping things running smoothly.
Remember, training should never stop completely. New products, software, and services all require more training if they are going to be implemented successfully. Employees may not always think they need it, but keeping a few days out of the year for retraining and refresher courses is a good idea. This also allows you to evaluate your employees and help maintain a high level of service and productivity.
At KOVA, we understand that the daily pressures on you and your staff can sometimes keep you from achieving the culture you want for your contact center. Contact us today to learn more about our Verint Media Recorder Workforce Optimization suite, and what it can do help your contact center succeed.
There are plenty of different ways we keep ourselves and our loved ones safe at home, but once we leave the friendly confines of our house, we open ourselves up to a variety of new dangers. Luckily, we also have quite a few public safety measures in place to keep us safe and secure. The layers of security woven into our everyday lives are complex, and they are constantly evolving. The 911 emergency line wasn’t even in use until the late 60’s, so we can see that there have been some pretty significant changes along the way. But what’s next for public safety? Where are the trends pointing now? Let’s explore where public safety is going in the next year.
The calls for police officers to wear body cameras have been gathering more steam in the past few years, and it looks as though more precincts are going to be outfitting their officers with body cameras in the coming year. Currently, only about one in three police departments use body cameras, but the number is on the rise as communities around the country call for more transparency and accountability from their police forces. While there are still policy and implementation issues to work out for police departments, the interest in body cameras seems likely to increase in the coming year.
The threat posed by terrorism is on the minds of many people across the globe, and the fight against that threat is increasingly being waged on digital fronts. A new app called See Something, Send Something was recently unveiled, and it gives the average citizen the ability to report suspicious activity directly to law enforcement officials. The app is currently in use New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Louisiana, Colorado, and Virginia, but look for more states to embrace the app in the coming year. This app combines the fight against terrorism with the public’s love of smartphones, and it will definitely be expanding in 2016.
For a huge amount of Americans, checking social media is a daily routine. Originally, social media sites like Twitter and Facebook were for keeping up with friends, but they are increasingly being used as a source of news and updates. Many people no longer think to flip on the television if there is an emergency, but instead look to their phones for instant updates on social media sites. In the event of public emergencies and inclement weather, emergency service providers can quickly get instructions and warnings to the general public through social media outlets. The use of social media to disseminate information to the general public is only going to increase in 2016.
At KOVA, we understand the complex nature of public safety initiatives, and our cutting edge public safety software solutions can help simplify and streamline the needs of any organization. Contact us today if you think your organization could benefit from our help.
When people talk about the next big thing in public safety, “smart cities” is a term that inevitably comes up. The idea behind the smart cities movement is that by utilizing technology and data, we can create cities that are sustainable, healthy, and safe—in other words, cities built for the next generation and beyond.
Smart cities advocates are developing lots of innovations in the sphere. One of those is situation management software, like our Nextiva Physical Security Management system or the Verint SMC system.
By integrating data from many different sensors, this kind of software allows for better contextualizing of security data, and therefore a smarter, more efficient response.
Another recent development is smart streetlights. Developed by GE, smart streetlights are designed to do a lot more than just generate light. For one thing, they feature highly-efficient LED light bulbs that can last up to 20 years and save 50 to 70 percent of the electricity used by a standard streetlight.
Not only are they much better for the environment, but they can save cities huge amounts of money on electricity bills. This is an important feature, as over the past decade, some cities have resorted to simply turning their streetlights off, in order to save money. Efficient streetlights could therefore mean safer streets.
That’s just the beginning of what smart streetlights can offer, however. The lights come equipped with a series of sensors that can detect environmental conditions like light and weather, so the light can dim or brighten, and turn on and off as needed. They also are equipped with video so they can record and report traffic violations or accidents. The data can then be used to enhance public safety initiatives.
But perhaps the most important feature of these smart streetlights is the fact that cities that use them have access to GE’s Predix internet of things platform. Developers can then use the platform to create apps based on the data that the streetlights collect. The apps could be different for each city—it all depends on what each government wants and needs.
Now, there’s a new technology that’s being integrated with the smart streetlights in order to reduce crime. Called ShotSpotter, this system recognizes the sound of gunfire, pinpoints the exact location of the shots, and analyzes the shots, sending all the information to local law enforcement and PSAPs in less than a minute.
Currently, ShotSpotter is actively used or contracted to deploy in 90 cities across the country, including New Haven, CT; Oakland, CA; San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.
The technology can also be used to keep schools and colleges safer—one San Francisco high school deployed ShotSpotter on its campus this fall, with the hopes, of course, that the system will never go off.
The integration of ShotSpotter into the smart streetlights will enhance functionality for both the streetlights and for ShotSpotter. The most typical use of ShotSpotter on its own involves placing sensors in areas of high gun violence, rather than covering an entire city. This is primarily due to the cost of deploying the system.
By integrating the system into the streetlights however, entire cities can be covered without incurring that full cost. ShotSpotter and the smart streetlights can share the hardware that comes with the streetlights, so all that needs to be added is some ShotSpotter software and inexpensive microphones. This will make it much easier for cities that want to use ShotSpotter to cover as many square miles as they want, rather than just focusing on problem neighborhoods.
KOVA is proud to be a part of the movement toward smarter, safer cities, by providing PSAPs and public safety organizations with the software they need to collect, analyze, and distribute data more efficiently.
Technology like ShotSpotter are typically stands alone, but can be much more valuable when integrated into all of the data solutions you already have. Our Situational Awareness Platform can tie ALL of your solutions together into one interface that can be driven by Standard Operating Procedures you set so incidents are handled easily with little room for error.
Our public safety solutions can also help your organization improve communications (Impact 360 for Public Safety); upgrade to Next Generation 9-1-1 standards (Audiolog for Public Safety); and improve your emergency alert notification system (KEANS Services). Contact us today!
If you’ve browsed our public safety software solutions, you may have come across something called the KEANS service. Standing for KOVA Emergency Alert System, KEANS is installed in some of the nation’s largest airports, providing a much-needed layer of airport security for everyone in the location, from personnel to travelers.
But what does KEANS do? Below, you’ll find answers to some of the questions we often hear from customers about how KEANS works.
KEANS is designed to alert multiple security agencies as well as internal departments all at once in the event of a security threat. A communication is played repeatedly over loudspeakers or a public address system, alerting Police, Fire, Homeland Security, the Coast Guard, and other agencies, allowing them to respond before a formal request is made. You can decide who needs to be alerted—maybe that’s a business partner or second location, in addition to security agencies.
This early warning means more time to assess the threat and respond accordingly, which could save lives.
Yes. KEANS systems are fully customizable, so you can decide which features you need for your communications protocol. Some of those features include:
Because KEANS is fully customizable, KOVA representatives can design a version of KEANS that fits your needs—including the need to integrate with an existing system. The systems we design also allow for upgrades and changes as the technology evolves. This versatility is vital in the public safety realm, when resources, security, and lives are in the balance.
KOVA can do this as well. Building a system from the ground up entails different challenges than adding to an existing system, and we’re versed in all of them. We start with the most basic questions and work up from there.
Absolutely. A public safety notification system is of no use if it can’t be relied up on to do its job in an emergency. That’s why our system relies on dedicated circuitry like T-1s, LAN/VLANS and ring-down lines.
This eliminates the possibility of failure that can come from an overwhelmed wireless network or PSTNs (Public Switched Telephone Networks).
The automated testing feature is another important reliability feature, as personnel can be sure that their system is working as it’s supposed to on a regular or on-demand basis.
Yes. KEANS features a dashboard display that monitors each communications channel: public address systems, fixed endpoints, and the dedicated circuits that KEANS runs on. The display is easy to read, allowing personnel to quickly see any communications failures or abnormalities in the system.
KOVA can customize the KEANS system to fit not only your communication needs, but your budget as well. And since the system can be upgraded and added to throughout its lifecycle, you can add or upgrade features as your budget allows over time.
With KEANS in place, security teams at airports and other sensitive locations can know that they’ve got the best public safety communications system available. In the event of an emergency, KEANS could help save time, resources, and most importantly, lives. Would you like to discuss how KEANS could help your location? Contact KOVA by email or call us at 800-204-5200.
911 dispatchers, or “invisible first responders,” as they’re often called, have very difficult jobs. Day in and day out, they talk people through some of the worst or most frightening moments of their lives. From burglaries to car crashes and worse, 911 dispatchers hear it all, and they have to stay calm throughout the events.
Not surprisingly, this can lead to various stress-related conditions. Some dispatchers develop stress-eating or other unhealthy habits; some find it hard to feel true empathy for loved ones; some even develop PTSD.
For their own health and happiness, as well as to maintain their ability to do their jobs, it’s vital that 911 dispatchers find a way to release job-related stress and leave work at work. This is, of course, easier said than done—but there are effective methods for relieving stress that may work. If one method isn’t working, keep trying alternatives. Surely, there’s something that will work for you.
The first thing to realize is that there are different types of stress, and consequently, different ways to deal with each type. The most important thing to remember is that if your stress is causing problems in your personal and non-working life, you can always seek professional help.
Also known as compassion fatigue, this type of stress comes from the natural emotional responses to helping people in difficult times of their lives. It feels good to help others, of course, which is why many dispatchers work in this field; however, when you are talking people through crises for hours, days, months, and years on end, your emotional reserves eventually become so depleted that it becomes very hard to replenish them.
Add to this the fact that 911 dispatchers work 12-hour shifts, and often overtime shifts as well, and you can see how difficult it can be to find the time to replenish those reserves.
One way to start taking better care of yourself and your emotions is a simple one: spend quality, meaningful time with friends and family. That means enjoying conversation, a walk, a bike ride, a trip to a museum—anything that gives you a chance to truly connect with someone you care about.
This is stress associated with an incident which causes you to have an extremely strong emotional response. And the incident may not be particularly stressful to another dispatcher. What matters is how it affects you, personally. This kind of stress can dissipate quickly if it’s acknowledged and treated, but when it’s ignored, it can build up and cause all kinds of emotional and physical problems.
Although police, fire, and EMS personnel are usually given opportunities to debrief after a major incident, sadly, 911 dispatchers are too often left out of this kind of aid. Some organizations do offer critical incident stress management to dispatchers—if your workplace has a program, take advantage of it. If not, talking to your fellow dispatchers can help defuse some of the intense feelings you’re having.
Just what it sounds like, cumulative stress builds up over time, and emergency personnel are especially prone to developing it. This kind of stress especially can cause long-term issues with one’s personal life and relationships, not to mention health, so it’s very important to do what you can to manage it (including talking to a professional).
Leading a healthy lifestyle is step number one to diffusing cumulative stress. Eat healthy food at regular intervals, and avoid refined sugars, fats, and salty food, which elevate stress levels. Make sure to drink lots of water and try to avoid caffeine.
Regular exercise is also a powerful stress reliever—in fact, it’s so powerful that exercising soon after a stressful incident has been shown to help individuals release that stress more quickly.
Finally, get enough sleep. If you’re having trouble sleeping, don’t watch TV or do other activities in bed—this can disrupt your sleep cycle and make the problem worse. Instead, keep your bedroom for sleep only, and make sure the room is dark and cool.
While we at KOVA can’t help with the inherently stressful nature of 911 dispatching, we can help make workplace functions less stressful with our public safety software solutions. Contact us if we can help your organization implement a new software system.
We’ve all seen bad employee training videos—you know, the dated, grainy, cheesy ones that show up everywhere from low-level retail job training sessions to expensive multi-day trainings for corporate managers.
The hair is big, the clothes are boxy, and the message is all but pounded into our heads. Don’t steal—you’ll go to jail (cue the slamming jail cell sound effect). Don’t be a jerk—your employees won’t want to work for you (cue the rotund insensitive man in a tie making an off-color joke in front of his team).
Thankfully, however, training videos are no longer almost uniformly bad. Today, training videos can not only be interesting and sophisticated, but incredibly effective. At least, that’s according to major, global companies like Microsoft and NYSE Euronext, which both use videos extensively throughout their operations.
Like many other organizations, contact centers can benefit greatly from using videos to help train their employees. And that doesn’t mean you have to create your own. Many are available for free on YouTube or through training consultancy groups.
Whether you decide to use those free resources or hire a production team to make your own company videos, here are a few of the easiest, most effective ways to use video in your contact center training. It goes without saying, however, that video should not be a replacement for in-person training. Instead, it can enhance the training process, allowing managers more time to train agents on more in-depth or complex processes.
Make onboarding easier and more efficient. When it comes to some of the most basic workplace functions, like clocking in and out for breaks, how to file a report, or even how to log on to a central database, videos can be an excellent resource.
Instead of a manager or supervisor taking the time to explain the basics for each new hire—and at a contact center, there is nearly always a large group of new hires—new employees can watch a few quick videos instead. One additional benefit to using a video for training like this is the employees will feel comfortable stopping it whenever they wish to try the task themselves. That’s not always the case when a manager is giving the information in person.
This is not to say that managers should take themselves out of the early training process entirely. On the contrary, using videos to get the basics out of the way will give managers more time to get to know each new hire and provide him with more individualized training. This can improve performance as well as morale.
Make ongoing and informal training more accessible. Since videos can be offered on-demand, agents who feel like they need some more help in a specific area can get that help with a simple click. There’s no waiting for a scheduled group training, or flagging down a busy manager who may not have the time to devote to training right then. Managers can also request that agents watch a specific video or videos to improve a certain skill set.
Use as a discussion starter for a formal training session. If you’re planning on a formal classroom training for your agents, sending them a video to watch beforehand can help jump-start the session. Request that agents come prepared with a couple of questions or discussion points to bring up. This will make the training more interactive (and therefore more enjoyable) and it may also give you ideas of things to cover that you wouldn’t have thought of on your own.
Is the agent training process something you’d like to improve at your contact center? KOVA’s Verint Media Recorder Workforce Optimization Suite is an all-in-one software solution that can automate training and performance management, in addition to a host of other capabilities. To learn more about Verint Media Recorder, contact KOVA today!
9-1-1 dispatchers have one of the most stressful jobs around. When something horrible happens, they’re the first ones to respond—that’s why they’re sometimes called Invisible First Responders. Helping people through some of the worst times of their lives for eight or 12 hours a day can take its toll, making dispatchers susceptible to work-related problems like high stress, PTSD, and weight gain.
While dealing with stress and PTSD can be complex issues, dealing with weight gain is a little bit easier to handle.
One of the first things dispatchers—and anyone who sits at a desk for an extended period of time—can do to start getting healthier is exercise. Of course, if you’re working 12-hour days, you probably don’t have much time to go to a gym or get outside for a jog. That’s why these five exercises, which you can do in short intervals right at your desk, are a great element to incorporate into your daily routine.
Another important way to improve your health at work? Stretch.
Stretching is an excellent and easy way to get your blood pumping and reduce feelings of stress. It also reduces pains associated with desk jobs—neck and back pain, for example.
A simple neck stretch will help prevent stiffness. Starting with your head held straight up, looking forward tilt your head to one side until your ear touches your shoulder. Then repeat on the other side. Do as many times as you like—you’ll feel a deeper stretch each time.
A good back stretch is one you’ve probably seen people do hundreds of times (it’s popular with the pregnant crowd): standing up straight, put your hands on your back just above your hips. Then lean back slowly and gently, extending your back and giving those muscles some relief from the hunched position they’ve probably been in all day.
And if these exercises whet your appetite for more, there are some great 10-minute workouts you can do on your breaks or when you have a few minutes at home. Don’t let the brevity fool you: you’ll be sweating by the end. Try one that has a combination of cardio—running in place, sidehops, or jumping jacks—with strength training, like woodchops or lunges. That way you’ll get the most out of your limited time.
Dispatchers have a tough job, but doing these exercises as often as you’re able will not only help you stay healthy, they’ll decrease your stress levels too.
And if you’re in need of a technological way to make your dispatchers happier, KOVA Corp. has the product to help you. Browse our selection of public safety software solutions, and then contact us! We’d love to help you find the right software solution for your team.
