Dispatcher plays an important role in an organization. They are mainly the communication channel between the organization and the outer world. They are the people who handle the flow of information, people, transmitting and receiving messages, managing vehicles, receiving raw material which is necessary for the organization, etc from headquarters.
Roles and Responsibilities
A dispatcher can be of any type like flight dispatcher, transport dispatcher, software dispatcher, hardware dispatcher, courier dispatcher, medical service dispatcher, back up dispatcher in the army and air force during wars, etc.
It is very important that the message which dispatcher transmits should be pure and there cannot be any modification in that. For some reason, if there could be any modification in the message, it should be positive so that it cannot harm the organization. It is the dispatcher job description responsibility that the message should reach safely and at an appropriate destination also.
The dispatcher also keeps a proper record of the information and other things which are dispatched by them, in today’s generation most of the dispatchers use the computer for this job. A dispatcher should be active, especially in the emergency fields like ambulance dispatcher and back-up dispatcher because they have to respond quickly to handle the situation. If they are not quick, it may lead to a very big loss.
Qualification and Skills Required
Education/Training:
- There is no formal training required for the job of Dispatcher.
- Many organizations set minimum standards for skills, qualification to recruit a dispatcher.
- It will be better if a dispatcher is a graduate but the minimum qualification should be high school.
- Other than higher qualification it will be more beneficial if one is experienced.
- He/she should have strong background and work experience in that particular field for minimum 2 years.
- He/she should have good communication both verbal and written skills so that they can convey their message clearly.
- They should have knowledge of standard communications, receiving and transmitting equipments.
- They should have knowledge of operational systems which are used by the company.
- A person should be multi-tasking because apart from receiving and transmitting information, they have to perform various other tasks also like maintaining records in computer, safety of the information, completing task in given time duration, etc.
Skills required by Dispatcher:
Following are the skills which are required for a good Dispatcher:
- Enough computer knowledge.
- Good communication skills.
- Ability to work under stress conditions.
- In case of emergency, he should be available at non-working hours also.
- They should be capable of eliminating work load because they have a huge number of employees working under them.
- As the dispatcher receives a large number of calls and orders, he should remain organized and will be able to deliver the things according to the priorities.
- He/she should always have an alternate if he/she is not available in case of emergency.
- They should be quick-decision making and able to eliminate work load.
- He/she should be trustworthy so that he/she can not disclose the organization’s secret to their competitors.
- They should have positive inter-personal and cross-cultural skills.
- He should be capable of reading maps and comprehend.
Professional Growth
In various organizations, the experienced Dispatcher may get raise in their salaries in a few months only by performing well. Also, the competition in this field is less so there are more chances to get promoted easily but for that, you have to perform well consistently. If there was consistent progress in the previous months, then your future will be bright. As you will grow older, you will become more experienced, your designation will not rise but there will be a consistent rise in their salaries for sure.
