Within the Trenches

Good morning and welcome back to another episode of Within the Trenches. This is going to be episode 79 and I'm going a little out of order but after recording episode 80, a milestone for the show, I had to post it up right away. Steve of Fairfax County 911 out of Virginia had an excellent story and if you haven't listened to it yet, you need to. Today's episode was going to be with Misti, a dispa...

Good morning and welcome to episode 78 of Within the Trenches. It has been a while since episode 77 but I am back with a long list of guests. In my last episode I revisited some of my personal dispatch stories. If you haven't listened to it you need to check it out. I will be recording more of my personal stories soon. I also mentioned that the new Indiana NENA website was up and registration is o...

Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Within the Trenches podcast. It has been about a month since the last episode and to keep it short, I have been all kinds of busy. Most of my time has been spent on work projects but I have also done a few side projects including logo design and web design. It has been fun because I love what I do but now that the main holidays are over I can get ba...

Welcome back to another episode of Within the Trenches. It has been a busy month! Since the last episode I have been training dispatchers on text FOR 911 platform  textty . It has been a lot of fun though and I love what I do. On top of that I can officially say that the  911 Wellness Foundation  and Within the Trenches are now strategic partners. What that means is that we are working together to...

Good morning and welcome to another episode of Within the Trenches. Today's episode is a must listen. In this episode we answer the question, "Who does 9-1-1 call when they need help?" To answer that question I spoke with Sherry, 9-1-1 Operations Supervisor, with the North Central Texas Council of Governments and Chairman with the National Joint TERT Initiative for NENA along with Jeremy, a superv...

Good afternoon and welcome back to another episode of Within the Trenches. This is going to be the second and final episode recorded during the 9114911 conference held at the Naperville, Illinois Marriott. In this episode I got the chance to speak to Kelly, CEO of Success Communications Inc. She shared her vision of this one of a kind motivational conference geared towards the most important part...

Good morning and welcome back to another episode of Within the Trenches. It has been a couple of weeks since the last episode but I'm back so get ready! In this episode I sat down with Samantha, a dispatch supervisor with Fenton PD out of Michigan. The episode was recorded live from the  9114911 conference  hosted by  Success Communications Inc.  Samantha was not only an attendee but she was also...

Hello everyone and welcome back to another awesome episode of Within the Trenches. I know it has been a while but I have had a lot going on. The past month or so I have been traveling non-stop for work and I recently moved to Fort Wayne Indiana. My schedule has been slammed but I have a lot coming up for the show. New episodes, announcements and fan page fun so get ready! This episode was recorded...

Welcome back to a brand new episode of Within the Trenches! It has been about a month since episode 70. I have been busy like you wouldn't believe but in no way am I letting this show go. I'm working harder than ever to bring you awesome content including more dispatch stories/highlights and continuing education. I could say everything here but it is all explained in this new episode so check it o...

Welcome back to another excellent episode of Within the Trenches. The show has reached episode 70 and I have to admit that when I first created this show I didn’t think I would reach a number this high. I have enjoyed every moment of this and I will continue to do the show until the 9-1-1 stories run out. This is also going to be the last episode in the 2014 National NENA Conference series. In thi...

Good afternoon and welcome to episode 69 of Within the Trenches. In this episode I had the pleasure of meeting with Richard, a telecommunicator with Mt. Juliet Police and Fire out of Tennessee and one of two nationally selected telecommunicators to receive the 9-1-1 Hero Award through PSTC/911 Cares. This was an excellent episode to record and we even hit an interesting moment around 27 minutes 16...

Good morning and welcome back to another episode of Within the Trenches. In this episode my special guest host and wife Rebecca joined me, along with Rob, Director of Vigo County 911 in Indiana and National NENA North Central Region Director. This episode covers attendee feedback of the conference, text to 911 and three very funny 911 tapes. We even pay a second visit to Rob’s wrestling persona. T...

Health in the dispatch center is a huge issue. Along with the massive amount of stress that the job offers there are also bad eating habits and minimal exercise opportunities while working. But what if there was something you could do about the exercise aspect of it? What if you had a treadmill or exercise bike attached to your console? Xybix, a dispatch furniture company has taken on the task of...

This is episode 66 of Within the Trenches and this is a special episode. Since the beginning of my show I have had people helping me out and giving me advice. One of those people is Mark Fletcher with Avaya. I’ve been on his podcast a few times and this time it was my turn to have him as a guest. Mark is the  Chief Architect for Worldwide Public Safety Solutions at  Avaya  as well as the program d...

Welcome back to another episode of Within the Trenches. This is episode 65 and I have to say right off the bat that there was an issue with this one. As you heard in episode 64 we had to redo the entire thing due to a subject who showed up and was drowning out the microphones. Some knobs were turned down and one of them was never turned back up so some audio is missing. I do apologize but it’s sti...

Good afternoon! This episode is sponsored by NENA and INdigital. I am currently in Nashville, TN for the 2014 National NENA Conference and this is just one of a series of episodes I’m recording here. In this episode I spoke with Dana, a dispatcher with Sumpter County Sheriff’s Office out of Florida and a Friends of 911 Scholarship winner. This is a must listen for anyone looking for information on...

Good morning! This episode is sponsored by NENA and INdigital. I am currently in Nashville, TN for the 2014 National NENA Conference and this is the first of a series of episodes I’m recording here. In this episode I spoke with Brandy, a dispatcher with Licking County 911 Center out of Ohio and a Friends of 911 Scholarship winner. This is a must listen for anyone looking for information on not onl...

Good afternoon and happy Friday! This episode will be the final episode from the Indiana NENA conference. It was an excellent time and I can’t wait for next year! In this episode I spoke with Jeanene and Kelsie, dispatchers with Vigo County Central Dispatch. This episode is as real as it gets. It’s a look at true stories as well as the humor that goes with the job. It’s not just about being great...

Good afternoon and welcome back to another awesome episode of Within the Trenches. It has been a pretty busy week with the announcement of Indiana's statewide text-to-9-1-1 plan  but I now have time so I'm posting a brand new episode from Indiana's NENA conference. In this episode I spoke with Jessica, a dispatcher / CTO with Kosciusko 9-1-1 Communications. Jessica was honored during the opening c...

Good afternoon and welcome back to another episode of Within the Trenches. This episode brings us closer to the end of my time at Indiana’s NENA conference. My time there was inspiring, educational and I can’t wait for next year. The stories covered have been amazing and today’s episode is right up there with the best of them. In this episode I had the chance to speak to Kimberly, a dispatcher/CTO...

Within the Trenches is back with episode 59! This is just one of several episodes recorded last week during the Indiana NENA state conference. In this episode I sat down to talk with Julie, Deputy Director with Bartholomew 9-1-1 Center and Claudia who is a dispatcher with Fayette County Communications. We share stories of messing up on the mic, burnout and how to deal with hitting a rough patch an...

Within the Trenches is back with episode 58! This is just one of several episodes recorded last week during the Indiana NENA state conference. In this episode I sat down to talk with Amy, Amanda and Wendy, supervisors with Bartholomew County 9-1-1 Center. We look back at their start in 9-1-1, the classes they attended at the conference and we listened to a 9-1-1 tape that featured Wendy helping wi...

Within the Trenches is back with episode 57! This is just one of several episodes recorded last week during the Indiana NENA state conference. In this episode I sat down to talk with Heather and Kelly, dispatchers out of LaGrange County in Indiana and they received one of this years Team Work Awards. We look at how they got started in 9-1-1 and how they played a major part in a situation where a w...

Within the Trenches is back with episode 55! This is just one of several episodes recorded last week during the Indiana NENA state conference. In this episode I sat down to talk with Rob, Director of Vigo County Central Dispatch and North Central Regional Director of National NENA and Terri, Director of Fayette County Communications, NENA Central Region Vice President and Director of Indiana APCO....

Hello everyone! Within the Trenches is back with episode 53 featuring Ed, the Director of Bartholomew County 9-1-1 Center and President of Indiana NENA. The show is recording on location from the Marriott East in Indianapolis, Indiana for the annual Indiana NENA conference. In this episode Ed shares his dispatch experience, switching from dispatch to being an on the road state trooper and eventual...