On the Active Call screen in the SOMA Dispatch application, the first portion is the call-info tab containing all the call information.

Note: If the admin has set the system to skip the call intake screen and for 911 calls, the following image will be the first thing users see once a call has started.

Call Info Tab

Items in the top section of the tab can be changed by using the dropdown lists, scrolling through the list, or starting to type the number or name and picking the desired item.

The call type and priority are first and can be picked or changed. Users may need to change the call type or priority as they talk to the caller more or once a unit arrives on-scene.

The second line has the area and source of the call. The area will automatically update once the address has been assigned, but users can change the area as needed. The source of the call is how the call came to the call taker. It can be either terminal (manually created by Dispatcher), radio (from a unit), walk-in (to the lobby), admin, or text. These sources are hardcoded, so admin users can't add additional ones at this time.

The next section has to do with the location of the call. If there are any calls within a range specified by the admin, then users will see a red "Nearby Call" button.

Clicking on this button will bring up a box with the calls showing the call type (code not name), call number, time and date of the call, and distance in meters from the current call. If it's determined that the two calls are the same, click on the blue "Merge" button to merge or combine the other call into the current call. An example is a domestic situation where one party has left the house and then both parties call 911 from different locations.

Merging the calls brings all persons, vehicles, property, and call comments into the current call. The comments' time stamp will be when the call was merged, not when the comments were entered on the merged call. We will cover more about merging calls by showing the different methods in another tutorial.

Primary and Caller Location

The location is separated into two portions, the Primary and the Caller. The primary location is where the units need to respond, while the caller location is used when the caller is in a different location.

A good example of this is that wireless 911 calls will have the caller location as the cell phone carrier name and the tower's address, but the primary location will be changed to the actual location. Clicking in the Primary Location box will open the details. The user should type the address in the common name and then pick from the dropdown list the correct location, which will populate the location into the place fields, including the map coordinates.

Users can click on the plus sign to the right of the coordinates to see the various coordinates we discussed in the maps tutorial.

If the same information needs to be copied to the caller's location, users can click the "Copy to Caller" box.

Clicking "Close Address Edit" will condense the location information section.

The same options are available for the Caller Location, including "Copy to Primary”. This tutorial covers the first portion of the call information tab.