The PSS360 Blog
Field notes from PSS360.
Perspectives on public-safety training, dispatch readiness, and what it takes to build real communication skill through simulation.
Why Typing Speed Is a Life-Safety Skill in the 911 Center
In a dispatch center, words-per-minute isn't a vanity metric — it's the difference between a call-taker who keeps pace with a caller in crisis and one who falls behind. Here's how we think about building the skill.
Read articleWhat Makes AI Roleplay Simulation Actually Work
Not all "AI roleplay" is created equal. The difference between a training tool that builds real communication skill and a novelty chatbot comes down to a few design choices that are easy to get wrong.
ReadBefore the Live Headset: Building CAD Fluency in Simulation
Console fluency shouldn't be built on a live call. Here's how a full CAD simulator gets trainees ready before they touch a real headset.
ReadHow to Cut Your Washout Rate Before Week Six
Most trainees fail at the same moment for the same reasons. Here is how to find the gaps early and close them before they cost you a seat.
ReadSimulation vs. Ride-Along: Where Each Actually Builds Skill
Ride-alongs and simulation each teach different things. Here's how to use both so trainees build console fluency before they touch a live call.
Read5 Mistakes Centers Make Running Mock Calls by Hand
Hand-run mock calls eat your training officers' hours and miss the gaps that wash recruits out. Here are five fixes.
ReadScored Like a Training Officer: AI Grading vs. the Mock Call
A hand-run mock call tells you a recruit struggled. An AI-graded practice call tells you exactly where, why, and what to fix.
ReadNG911 Raised the Bar. Here's How to Train for Text and Video
NG911 adds text, image, and video to the call-taker's workload. Here's how to build the skills to handle it before a trainee touches a live headset.
ReadWhy the Live Floor Is the Worst Place to Train a Dispatcher
The live floor teaches new dispatchers under the worst possible conditions. Simulation builds the reps first, where failure is safe.
ReadThe 911 Staffing Crisis Is a Training Problem
You can't out-hire a washout rate. Here's why training, not recruiting, is the lever 911 centers actually control.
ReadSpeed Is the Floor, Not the Goal: What 911 Typing Drills Build
Typing speed is the floor for a 911 call-taker, not the finish line. Here's what dispatch typing drills actually build for trainees.
ReadMental-Health Crisis Calls: Building the Reps Before the Headset
Crisis calls are a rising share of 911 volume. Here's how to build call-control and de-escalation reps before a trainee touches a live line.
ReadSpeed Is the Floor, Not the Goal: Rethinking Dispatch Typing
Why raw WPM is the wrong target for dispatch typing drills, and how to train the typing that actually holds up under a live call.
ReadYou Can't Out-Hire a Retention Problem, But You Can Out-Train It
Hiring won't close a 911 staffing gap if recruits wash out in week six. Better training will. Here's how to out-train your turnover.
ReadNG911 Changed the Desk: Training Call-Takers for a Harder Job
NG911 brought text, images, video, and richer location data to the 911 desk. Here's how to train call-takers for the more complex call.
ReadOne Login, Three Simulators: Running Training Through STACC
How STACC delivers the typing trainer, AI console, and de-escalation roleplay through one platform, one roster, and one record.
ReadRetention Fell From Ten Years to Three: Where Training Fits
Dispatcher careers have collapsed from a decade to a few years. Here's the one lever training actually controls in the retention fight.
ReadClosing the Skills Gap in CTE Public-Safety Pathways
Career and technical education programs are producing more public-safety candidates than ever — but classroom hours don't always translate to console readiness. Simulation is how programs bridge that gap.
ReadWhat Is STACC: One Delivery Platform for Public-Safety Training
STACC is the platform that delivers PSS360's training across CTE classrooms, colleges, and working PSAPs through one login, one roster, and one record.
ReadThe Floor Is the Worst Classroom for Your Trainees
Live-floor training puts new dispatchers in front of real callers before they're ready. Here's a safer, cheaper place to fail first.
ReadWhy Rural 911 Centers Feel the Shortage First
Rural PSAPs run the thinnest benches and pay the highest price for every washout. Here's how simulation closes the gap before a recruit touches a live headset.
ReadWhen Recruits Can't Touch-Type: Closing the Keyboard Skills Gap
Incoming dispatch recruits arrive smartphone-fluent but keyboard-slow. Here's how to close the typing gap before they ever touch a live headset.
ReadThe New Recruit Can't Touch-Type: Teaching Skills the Workforce Stopped Bringing
Incoming dispatchers arrive smartphone-fluent but keyboard-slow. Here is how to build the console skills the CAD desk demands before they touch a live call.
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