Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance
Schedule and dispatch workers, work crews, equipment, or service vehicles for conveyance of materials, freight, or passengers, or for normal installation, service, or emergency repairs rendered outside the place of business. Duties may include using radio, telephone, or computer to transmit assignments and compiling statistics and reports on work progress.
Most important skills
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Monitoring
- Coordination
- Reading Comprehension
- Time Management
- Writing
- Critical Thinking
Key knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service
- Public Safety and Security
- Administration and Management
- Administrative
- English Language
- Transportation
- Personnel and Human Resources
- Computers and Electronics
What the work involves
- Schedule or dispatch workers, work crews, equipment, or service vehicles to appropriate locations, according to customer requests, specifications, or needs, using radios or telephones.
- Arrange for necessary repairs to restore service and schedules.
- Relay work orders, messages, or information to or from work crews, supervisors, or field inspectors, using telephones or two-way radios.
- Confer with customers or supervising personnel to address questions, problems, or requests for service or equipment.
- Prepare daily work and run schedules.
- Receive or prepare work orders.
- Monitor personnel or equipment locations and utilization to coordinate service and schedules.
- Record and maintain files or records of customer requests, work or services performed, charges, expenses, inventory, or other dispatch information.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Conventional, Realistic, Enterprising.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (47.4% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (34.4%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (42.6%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very high | Higher on contact with others than 94% of occupations compared | 92% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | High | Higher on dealing with the public than 68% of occupations compared | 37% of surveyed respondents chose “Very important” |
| Teamwork | Very high | Higher on teamwork than 88% of occupations compared | 69% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very high | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 81% of occupations compared | 62% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 90% of occupations compared | 76% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very high | Higher on conflict situations than 94% of occupations compared | 45% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 98% of occupations compared | 69% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Consequence of error | Very low | Lower on consequence of error than 81% of occupations compared | 54% of surveyed respondents chose “Not serious at all” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: very high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: very low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: 7.62%
- Constant contact with others: 92.38%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2021
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 8.59%
- Fairly important: 2.97%
- Important: 17.01%
- Very important: 37.02%
- Extremely important: 34.4%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2021
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 0%
- Very important: 30.59%
- Extremely important: 69.41%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2021
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 10.93%
- Some freedom: 27.38%
- A lot of freedom: 61.69%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2021
Time pressure
- Never: 1.63%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 22.64%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 0%
- Every day: 75.72%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2021
Conflict situations
- Never: 1.74%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 14.47%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 9.37%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 44.64%
- Every day: 29.79%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2021
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 1.74%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 21.62%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 7.78%
- Every day: 68.85%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2021
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 54.09%
- Fairly serious: 12.37%
- Serious: 1.75%
- Very serious: 12.7%
- Extremely serious: 19.1%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2021
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O*NET-SOC 43-5032.00 · SOC 43-5032 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8