MCP Insights

'A' Player Traits and How to Spot Them Using a Prescreen Interview

A previous post presented, on a high-level, the approach we take to finding the A players for our public safety communications careers, known as “Topgrading,” a methodology developed by Dr. Brad Smart, who is considered by many to be the world’s foremost expert on hiring practices. This article will explore some of the nuances of Topgrading, and contains tips for public safety leaders looking to find A players to add to their organization.

Unlike the yeti, the A player is no mythical creature. Indeed, the A player—who is defined as a person among the top 10 percent of professionals in his or her chosen field—has numerous discernible traits such as:

• Best-in-class achievements—A players are results driven, exhibit consistently excellent performance, and often are award winners
• Superior problem-solving abilities—A players are quick studies and able to perform complex analysis
• Outstanding leadership skills—A players not only are self-starters, but also self-leaders; typically, you give them a direction, and then get out of their way; they are highly adaptive, they execute needed change, and they inspire others to higher levels of performance
• High passion and energy—A players are driven to succeed and work at a fast pace; they will do whatever it takes—within the bounds of ethics—to get the job done.

Having a roster of A players is vitally important to every organization, but none more so than public safety agencies, which every day encounter situations where lives are on the line and every second counts. So, how does one identify the A players in the public safety sector? It all starts with the Topgrading prescreen interview.

Build a Smart PSAP Cyber Security Strategy: 8 Critical "Must-Haves"

The emergency communications industry is a growing target for cyber security attacks and the threat is only just beginning. Public safety communications infrastructure is becoming more IP-based, and as a result, it's vulnerability to cyber threats is on the rise. There are more than 6,000 PSAPs located across the country, and 80 percent of them are small, making them unlikely to have inadequate cyber security defense programs. This is just one factor, among many, that makes 911 systems an attractive target for cyber-attacks.

Several major cyber security incidents have plagued the industry in the recent months, including

• An October 2016 attack where a teenager accidently impacted 911 centers around the country with a Twitter post containing a link that once clicked on, hijacked your iPhone and dialed 911 repeatedly. The post was clicked more than 117,000 times.

• Ransomware that affected 300 PCs and 40 servers with sensitive data plagued Madison County, who paid an astounding $21,000 in ransom (later covered by cyber insurance). The cost in
  man-hours to restore data is unknown and irretrievable.

These are just two examples that demonstrate that cyber threats are growing in complexity and sophistication, and could continue to increase in severity as PSAPs become more interconnected, both regionally and at the statewide level.

So what cyber threats exist and what steps can you take  to prepare your psap?

Understanding the types of cyber threats that exist today, PSAP and IT Managers can better protect the data and assets within their 911 centers that could be targets.

Statewide Implementations Are Best For Text-to-911

Imagine being on the freeway and encountering a horrific accident, one that almost certainly has resulted in fatalities. You instinctively reach for your mobile phone, and then freeze—because you are a member of the deaf/hard-of-hearing/speech-disabled community and text-to-911 service has yet to arrive where you live.

This is no hypothetical event. It actually happened to Academy Award-winning actress Marlee Matlin, who spoke about it during her keynote address at the 2013 Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) national conference. Matlin—who has been a devoted advocate for text-to-911 service—reportedly said at the time, “Instead of being able to instantly text to 911, I had to trust and leave it to other bystanders. And I shudder to think, what if it had been me in the accident—how could I have called?”

Four years later, text-to-911 service still isn’t ubiquitous in the United States—in fact, it is nowhere close to ubiquity, as only about 14 percent of public safety answering points in the United States have implemented the service.

This leads to a critical question: why isn’t this lifesaving feature universally available today?

PSAP Cyber Security Threats and How to Prepare Your Agency [Webinar]

In 2016, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued an alert indicating that government facilities are being targeted by hackers and cyber criminals, a trend that DHS expected would increase.

Not only were they spot on, the issue has since specifically impacted emergency communications systems on various scales and unprecedented levels several times since that alert. For example:

• Last October, a Twitter post containing a shortened link took over the phone and dialed 911 repeatedly was clicked more than 117,000 times by Apple phone users. 9-1-1 centers across the country were affected.
• In Washington D.C., 70 percent of storage devices that record data from D.C. police surveillance cameras were infected with ransomware eight days before President Trump’s inauguration.
• In Licking County, OH, a 911 center went without computers for a time because of a countywide network shutdown to prevent an attack from spreading.

How We Predict NG911 Will Play Out in the Public Safety Industry [Infographic]

From Next Generation 911 (NG911) to FirstNet, text-to-911 and all the emerging technoFrom Next Generation 911 (NG911) to FirstNet, text-to-911 and all the emerging technologies being implemented in the public safety industry, the way a 911 call is processed and dispatched is changing dramatically. The evolution represents a quantum leap forward in the level of service the nation’s public safety answering points (PSAPs) can provide to the public and first responders. But the migration is being slowed considerably by some of the same difficulties it’s faced before.

The public safety industry has always struggled with technology evolution: it takes significantly longer than it should and the process is far inefficient. Case in point – it took more than four decades to make 911 service available to the entire country.

CAD-to-CAD: Our Experts Weigh In

Is your 9-1-1 agency considering a CAD-to-CAD capability to increase information sharing and data interoperability between jurisdictions?

We recently asked two MCP subject-matter experts to weigh in on the topic of CAD-to-CAD. Last month, we hosted a webinar to discuss the benefits and technical considerations of a CAD-to-CAD approach, as well as where to begin from a technical standpoint if they decide to implement this solution (Watch the webinar on-demand here.)

In this post, we’ll investigate the benefits as well as the varying models available in today’s market. Be on the lookout for a future discussion on CAD-to-CAD guiding principles and how an agency should begin their journey.

Four Tips for Agencies Considering Mission Critical Push-to-Talk Apps

A myriad of commercial push to talk application options exist for public safety users, and for good reason. There are many benefits that can be realized by interfacing an existing mission critical land mobile radio system with a commercial push to talk service. You can read all about these benefits on our earlier post, “What is commercial push to talk technology and why does it matter for your public safety land mobile radio strategy?”

Or you can download our free whitepaper on this topic, “The Case for Push to Talk Technology in Public Safety.”

In this post, we will summarize what’s available in commercial mission critical technology, provide some detail around how the solutions work and what their advantages and disadvantages are.

At a very basic level, there are essentially three classes of PTT apps that integrate with LMR systems.

• LMR-based – Apps that are available from traditional LMR vendors such as those that are provided by Motorola Solutions and Harris Corporation
• Carrier-integrated – Apps that are available from commercial wireless carriers
• Third-party – Apps that are available from third party providers

CAD-to-CAD Best Practices, Challenges and How to Solve Them [LIVE WEBINAR]

Real-time, effective interoperable data sharing is essential in the 911 and first responder communities, especially as the industry transitions to Next Generation 911 (NG911). One necessary tool to accomplish this is CAD-to-CAD (also known as computer-aided dispatch to computer-aided dispatch, or CAD2CAD) interoperability.

CAD-to-CAD interoperability is not a new term—CAD systems have been used across the 911 community for decades. While CAD-to-CAD data exchanges have been implemented in several regions throughout the country, they are not yet a prevalent technology.

Klobuchar-Nelson Bill Contains a Hidden Gem for the 9-1-1 Industry

In February, a draft bill emerged, co-sponsored by senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Bill Nelson (D‑Fla.) that if enacted, would make the transition from legacy 911 to Next Generation 911 (NG911) a “national imperative.” Among other things, the bill calls for the creation of a federal grant program that would assist states and localities as they transition to NG911, and stipulates that any state receiving funds from this grant program would need to certify that the money only would be used for NG911 implementations.

Commercial PTT Technology: What it Means for Your Land Mobile Radio Strategy

Mission-critical communication technologies have evolved at a dramatic pace in the last several years, leaving public safety leaders trying to evaluate what’s available, how it functions with other technologies, and how it can augment their existing systems.

One of those emerging technologies is commercial push-to-talk (PTT) functionality.

Commercial PTT functionality already has proven extremely valuable to public works, utilities, transportation, schools, etc. Within the public safety industry, and with our clients, we’re starting to see greater opportunities for it to integrate with traditional land mobile radio (LMR).

In this post, we’ll talk more about PTT technology and how it could directly benefit first responders. (If you want an in-depth look at this technology and how it’s impacting our industry, download our free whitepaper on this topic.)

Telecommunicators Deserve the Spotlight All Year Long

Every year in June when I was a kid, my father and I shared the same joke. We did this on Father’s Day. I would say to him, “Must be nice … so, when is Kid’s Day?” And he would reply, “Every day is Kid’s Day.” Behind the humor was truth—he and my mother celebrated me and my brothers, and went above and beyond every day to give us a good start in life.

A tribute to our nation's telecomunicators

What got me thinking about that is National Telecommunicators Week, which is celebrated annually during the second week of April. It could be well argued that the nation’s 9-1-1 call-takers, dispatchers and supervisors—the unsung heroes of emergency response—deserve to be honored every week of the year.

The gravity of the job is tremendous, and so are the stresses. Those who call 9-1-1 are experiencing the worst day of their lives, and for some of them it will be the last day.

Lives are on the line and seconds count

Recently I did a Google search using the phrase, “most disturbing 9-1-1 calls.” The stories are as heartbreaking as they are eye-opening. The emotional toll on the telecommunicators who field such calls is staggering. But they don’t have the luxury of succumbing to those emotions. Remember that when a 9-1-1 call is placed, lives are on the line and seconds count. Ergo, telecommunicators must keep their wits about them at all times, lest they be unable to do what is needed. This involves dispatching the appropriate emergency response, of course, but also keeping the person on the other end of the line calm and, often, providing life-saving instructions to the caller, and vital information to first responders en route to enhance their situational awareness.

How to Find ‘A’ Players: An Intro to ‘Topgrading’ for Public Safety Leaders

It is essential that MCP’s subject-matter experts (SMEs) provide exemplary service, expertise and advice to our public safety clients, because when lives are on the line and seconds count, their mission truly matters. A key element in assuring that we serve our clients at the highest levels is to hire “A” players, i.e., the top 10 percent of talent in the public safety sector. While such a determination might seem subjective, it really isn’t. In fact, we use an objective approach known as “topgrading” to accomplish this goal. It is an approach that every public safety answering point (PSAP) manager can leverage to attract the most knowledgeable and passionate talent available.

Topgrading Basics

Topgrading is a methodology that was developed by Dr. Brad Smart, who widely is considered the world’s top hiring expert. We describe topgrading as a structural approach to interviewing candidates, and we use it to fill every position. Here's a quick overview of how the topgrading process works for us.

Tip 1: Don't underestimate the importance of a pre-screen.

We start with a pre-screen interview to initially identify candidates who possess “A player” characteristics and eliminate those who do not.  Candidates generally will meet with us by phone or in a live environment.  The pre-screen interview generally will run up to 90 minutes.  During the interview we ask each candidate to state their career goals, identify their best professional attributes, and acknowledge their weaknesses.  We discuss the individual’s work history, the core values at MCP—persistence, integrity, trust, accountability and prudence—and team-oriented characteristics the individual can bring to our company.