CritiCall Dispatcher Exam Flashcards

Q: What is the CritiCall dispatcher test pass rate?

CritiCall does not publish a single national pass rate. Each hiring agency sets its own passing threshold for every module it administers — most commonly 70% to 80% — plus a typing-speed minimum, commonly 35 words per minute. Because agencies choose different modules and cutoffs, your target score depends entirely on the hiring notice for the position you're applying to.

Q: What topics does the CritiCall test cover?

CritiCall draws from up to 15 modules: multitasking and call handling, call summarization, decision making and prioritization, map reading, data entry, cross-referencing, character comparison, memory and recall, reading comprehension, sentence clarity, spelling/proofreading, and typing speed. Agencies pick a subset based on the dispatcher role they're filling.

Q: Can I retake the CritiCall test if I fail?

Retake rules are set entirely by the hiring agency, not by CritiCall itself. Reported waiting periods range from about 30 days to 12 months, with roughly 6 months being a common minimum, and some agencies cap the number of lifetime attempts or only allow a retest once the position reopens. Always confirm the exact policy with the recruiter for the agency you applied to.

Q: How fast do I need to type for CritiCall?

Most agencies set 35 words per minute as the typing-speed floor, but the score that counts is net WPM — gross words typed minus errors — not raw speed. A candidate who types 45 WPM with frequent mistakes can score lower than one who types 35 WPM cleanly, because accuracy is scored alongside speed in the data-entry and typing modules.

Q: Is the CritiCall test the same at every agency?

No. CritiCall is a modular test bank, and each of the 1,800+ agencies that license it selects which modules to administer, in what order, and what score each module requires. Two candidates applying to different agencies may take entirely different combinations of modules even though both are described as taking 'the CritiCall test.'

Q: What is the hardest part of the CritiCall test for most candidates?

Candidates most often struggle with the multitasking modules, which require typing accurate CAD entries while simultaneously listening to a simulated call — a divided-attention skill most people have never practiced. Map reading and cross-referencing under a time limit are the next most commonly missed areas, since both require quick, careful scanning rather than raw knowledge.

Question 1

Call Summarization vs. Verbatim Note-Taking

Accepted Answer

Call summarization means condensing a caller's account into the essential dispatch facts (who, what, where, when, weapon/vehicle) — not writing down everything said word for word. CritiCall's summarization modules score whether you captured the operationally critical facts, not writing speed.

Question 2

First Fact to Capture on Any 911 Call

Accepted Answer

Location, before anything else. If the call drops, transfers, or the caller can't continue, responders can still be sent to a confirmed location. Every other detail (nature of the call, suspect description, etc.) is gathered only after the address is locked in.

Question 3

Divided-Attention Accuracy Decrement

Accepted Answer

Accuracy naturally drops when a task is split between two channels — for example, typing CAD notes while listening to a caller. CritiCall's multitasking modules are scored expecting this trade-off, so the goal is minimizing errors under split attention, not eliminating the slowdown entirely.

Question 4

Radio Traffic vs. Phone Call Priority

Accepted Answer

When an officer keys up with an emergency (e.g., 'shots fired' or 'need help') while you're mid-entry on an unrelated phone call, the radio traffic takes precedence — officer safety on an active radio transmission outranks routine data entry on a call already in progress.

Question 5

Phonetic Alphabet in Dispatch

Accepted Answer

Spelling names and plates letter-by-letter over noisy audio invites errors (e.g., 'B' and 'D' sound alike). The standard fix is the NATO phonetic alphabet (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie...) to confirm each letter unambiguously before it's entered into CAD.

Question 6

Confirming a Caller's Location

Accepted Answer

Paraphrasing the address back to the caller ('You're at 400 Oak Street, is that right?') catches transcription errors before dispatch, rather than after units are already en route to the wrong place. This active-listening check is faster than a correction call later.

Question 7

Handling Multiple Ringing Lines

Accepted Answer

When several 911 lines ring at once, the correct action is a brief triage — determine which caller has the most time-critical emergency — rather than answering strictly in the order the calls arrived. A held caller reporting a minor issue is lower risk than an unanswered caller reporting a life threat.

Question 8

Call-Back After a Disconnection

Accepted Answer

If a 911 call drops mid-conversation, the dispatcher calls back immediately using the number captured by ANI (Automatic Number Identification) rather than waiting for the caller to redial — seconds matter, and the caller may be unable to call back themselves.

Question 9

Screen Prompts During a Live Call

Accepted Answer

CritiCall's multitasking modules interleave on-screen prompts (alerts, secondary data requests) with an active audio call. The tested skill is triaging which prompt to act on immediately versus which can wait until the call wraps up, without losing track of the caller.

Question 10

Structured Shorthand for Call Notes

Accepted Answer

A consistent note structure — who, what, where, when, weapon/vehicle — lets a dispatcher capture a chaotic call in a scannable order instead of a wall of text. Structured notes are faster to read back and less likely to omit a critical fact under time pressure.

Question 11

CAD Entry Timing During a Call

Accepted Answer

Entering data in short bursts between pauses in caller speech — rather than typing continuously while the caller is talking — reduces the chance of missing a spoken detail. The tested skill is timing your typing to gaps in the conversation, not typing nonstop.

Question 12

Priority Triage: Life Safety First

Accepted Answer

When multiple calls compete for dispatch, threat-to-life always outranks property-only or informational calls, regardless of which call came in first. A report of a person not breathing is dispatched ahead of a call about a broken window, even if the window call arrived first.

Question 13

In-Progress vs. Report-Only Calls

Accepted Answer

A crime happening right now (in-progress) is prioritized above a report of something that already occurred (a 'cold' report), because in-progress calls carry ongoing risk to victims, witnesses, or responding units. A cold burglary report can wait; an active break-in cannot.

Question 14

Weapon-Involved Call Escalation

Accepted Answer

Any mention of a weapon (firearm, knife, or vehicle used as a weapon) escalates a call's priority level, even if the described act itself sounds minor. Weapon involvement changes the responding units' approach (staging, backup) before they can act, so it must be flagged immediately.

Question 15

Officer/Responder Safety as the Tiebreaker

Accepted Answer

When two calls appear equally severe, the one with higher risk to the responding officer or medic is dispatched first — for example, a domestic disturbance with an unknown weapon status over a routine welfare check with no reported risk indicators.

Question 16

Pre-Arrival Instructions Priority

Accepted Answer

For medical calls, life-saving pre-arrival instructions (like starting CPR or applying pressure to a wound) are given before continuing to gather non-critical background details. Getting the caller acting to save a life outranks finishing the intake questionnaire.

Question 17

Ambiguous or Incomplete Information Rule

Accepted Answer

When a caller can't confirm key details (exact injury, whether a suspect is still on scene), the dispatcher sends the higher level of response the situation could reasonably require, rather than waiting to clarify — units can always be downgraded en route, but a delayed dispatch can't be undone.

Question 18

Routing Calls Across Police, Fire, and EMS

Accepted Answer

A single incident (e.g., a car crash with injuries) often requires notifying more than one discipline. The tested skill is recognizing all agencies a call touches — not just the first one that comes to mind — so a fire/EMS response isn't missed on a call that sounds like 'just' a police matter.

Question 19

Redundant Dispatch (Deconfliction)

Accepted Answer

Before assigning a new unit to a call, check whether a unit is already assigned to that address or incident. Dispatching a second unit to a call that's already covered wastes coverage elsewhere and can create confusion about who has scene responsibility.

Question 20

Multiple Victims, Single Call

Accepted Answer

A call describing several injured people is prioritized and resourced differently than a single-victim call of the same type — it may require multiple medic units and an early request for additional resources, not just the standard one-unit response.

Question 21

Reading a Street Grid

Accepted Answer

On a standard city grid, streets running one direction (e.g., east-west) are typically named 'Streets,' while the perpendicular set (north-south) are 'Avenues' or numbered. Knowing which axis a name belongs to lets you find an intersection without scanning the whole map.

Question 22

Address Block Numbering Convention

Accepted Answer

Address numbers usually increase in one direction from a baseline (e.g., a central street or the city limit), and each 'block' spans roughly 100 numbers. Knowing the block-to-street relationship lets you estimate an address's location even without seeing the exact building.

Question 23

Shortest Route with One-Way Streets

Accepted Answer

The geometrically shortest path on a map isn't always usable — a one-way street running the wrong direction forces a detour. Map-reading items test whether you factor in street restrictions, not just straight-line distance, when picking a route.

Question 24

Compass Quadrant Naming (NE/NW/SE/SW)

Accepted Answer

Many cities split addresses into quadrants (e.g., 400 NE Main St. vs. 400 NW Main St.) that can be blocks apart despite an identical street number and name. Missing the quadrant label is a common way to send a unit to the wrong side of the city entirely.

Question 25

Cross-Street Location When No Address Is Known

Accepted Answer

When a caller can't give an exact address (common for callers on foot or in unfamiliar areas), the fallback is the nearest cross-streets or a landmark, converted to an approximate address range — this is faster to relay to units than an unresolved 'somewhere near here.'

Question 26

Grid Reference (Map Book) Coordinates

Accepted Answer

Older paper map books and some CAD map overlays locate an address using a page number plus a letter/number grid cell (e.g., 'Page 42, D-3') rather than GPS coordinates. Reading these correctly means matching the row letter and column number to the printed grid, not guessing by eye.

Question 27

Nearest Unit vs. Lowest Unit Number

Accepted Answer

The unit dispatched to a call should be the one closest by travel distance/direction, not simply the lowest-numbered or first-listed unit in the CAD roster. Picking by proximity minimizes response time; picking by list order can send a unit across town unnecessarily.

Question 28

Net WPM (Words Per Minute)

Accepted Answer

Typing scores are based on net WPM — gross words typed minus a penalty for errors — not raw typing speed. A dispatcher who types fast but sloppy can score below one who types slower but clean, since CAD errors can send responders to the wrong location.

Question 29

Commonly Transposed Characters

Accepted Answer

The letter 'O' and the number '0,' and the letter 'I' and the number '1,' are among the most frequently mis-keyed character pairs in CAD data entry, especially in plates and case numbers. Data-entry modules deliberately include these look-alikes to test careful character-by-character entry.

Question 30

Auto-Populated vs. Manually Entered CAD Fields

Accepted Answer

ANI/ALI (Automatic Number/Location Identification) fields are populated automatically from the phone system and are generally reliable, while narrative and detail fields are typed by the dispatcher and carry human error risk. Knowing which fields to double-check saves time versus re-verifying data the system already captured correctly.

Question 31

Free-Text vs. Coded Field Entry

Accepted Answer

CAD systems mix open narrative fields (typed freely) with coded/dropdown fields (selected from a fixed list, like call-type codes). Coded fields exist specifically to prevent inconsistent spelling or phrasing from breaking searches and reports later.

Question 32

Correcting a CAD Entry Error

Accepted Answer

Standard practice is to amend or supplement an incorrect CAD entry with a corrected note, not delete the original entry outright — CAD logs typically function as a legal record, and unexplained deletions undermine the audit trail for later investigations or court testimony.

Question 33

Phone Number Format Standardization

Accepted Answer

Agencies set a single standard format for entering phone numbers, dates, and similar fields (e.g., digits only, no dashes) so CAD searches and cross-system lookups work consistently. Entering the same data in inconsistent formats can cause records not to match during a later search.

Question 34

Typing Under Audio Distraction

Accepted Answer

Data-entry modules are sometimes scored while a simulated call plays in the background, testing whether accuracy holds up under a competing audio channel — not just typing speed measured in silence, which doesn't reflect real call-taking conditions.

Question 35

Cross-Referencing (Definition)

Accepted Answer

Cross-referencing means matching a single piece of information (a name, plate, or phone number) across two or more separate lookup tables to confirm they point to the same record. It's tested because dispatchers routinely reconcile CAD, warrant, and DMV data that don't share one unified database.

Question 36

Character Comparison Errors: Look-Alike Digits/Letters

Accepted Answer

License-plate and ID comparison tasks are built around characters that look alike at a glance — 8 vs. B, 5 vs. S, 2 vs. Z. The tested skill is comparing character-by-character rather than eyeballing the overall shape of the string, which is how these near-matches slip through.

Question 37

Partial Plate Match on a BOLO

Accepted Answer

A BOLO (Be On the Lookout) plate match is rarely a perfect string match — dispatchers must judge whether a partial or near match (e.g., missing one digit) is close enough to flag, balancing the risk of a false alarm against missing a real hit.

Question 38

Warrant Checks Require Name + Date of Birth

Accepted Answer

A name alone is not enough to confirm a warrant match — common names produce false hits. Cross-referencing a warrant requires matching name AND date of birth (and often additional identifiers) together before treating a subject as the wanted person.

Question 39

Aliases Across Multiple Records

Accepted Answer

The same individual can appear under different name spellings or aliases across separate systems. Cross-referencing tasks test whether you can trace a shared identifier (like a DOB or ID number) linking apparently different names back to one subject.

Question 40

False Positive vs. False Negative in Data Matching

Accepted Answer

Flagging a match that isn't real (false positive) sends resources on a wrong lead; missing a real match (false negative) lets a legitimate hit go unnoticed. Cross-referencing modules score both error types, so guessing quickly to save time increases one risk while rushing carelessly increases the other.

Question 41

Chunking for Short-Term Recall

Accepted Answer

Recalling a long string of facts (address, name, description) is more accurate when grouped into small chunks of 3-4 items rather than trying to hold everything as one long list. This is why structured call-note formats (who/what/where/when) work better than free recall.

Question 42

Primacy and Recency in Playback Recall

Accepted Answer

In memory-recall exercises, the first and last facts given tend to be remembered best, while details in the middle of a sequence are most likely to be forgotten. Deliberately re-checking the middle of a caller's account guards against this natural memory gap.

Question 43

Immediate vs. Delayed Transcription

Accepted Answer

Writing down recalled details immediately after audio playback preserves more accuracy than trying to recall them after a delay or after handling another task first — memory of spoken detail decays quickly, especially under the interruption of a busy dispatch floor.

Question 44

Standard Order for Suspect Description Recall

Accepted Answer

Suspect descriptions are recalled and relayed in a consistent order — sex, race, approximate age, height/build, clothing, distinguishing features — so nothing is skipped and responding units can scan for a match quickly rather than parsing an unordered list.

Question 45

Spelling Verification Recall

Accepted Answer

When a name or word was spelled letter-by-letter during a call, recall accuracy is tested by reproducing the exact spelling given — not a phonetically 'close enough' version — since a single wrong letter can cause a CAD or warrant search to miss the correct record.

Question 46

Sentence Clarity in CAD Narratives

Accepted Answer

Reading modules test picking the version of a sentence that states one clear meaning versus a version that could be read two different ways (an ambiguous pronoun or unclear modifier). Ambiguous CAD narrative can mislead a responding unit or a later reviewer of the call.

Question 47

Proofreading: Comparing Entry to Dictation

Accepted Answer

Proofreading items test whether a typed CAD entry matches what was actually dictated, character by character — not whether the entry merely sounds plausible. A transposed digit or dropped word can pass a casual read but fail a careful comparison.

Question 48

Standardized Street-Type Abbreviations

Accepted Answer

CAD systems expect consistent abbreviations for street types (St., Ave., Blvd., Rd.) rather than inconsistent spelling-out or shortening. Using the agency's standard abbreviation prevents duplicate or mismatched address records in the system.

Question 49

Extracting the Controlling Rule from a Policy Passage

Accepted Answer

Reading comprehension items often bury one operative rule inside a longer policy paragraph. The tested skill is identifying which sentence actually governs the decision (e.g., an exception clause) rather than summarizing the whole passage generally.

Question 50

Homophone and Near-Miss Word Errors

Accepted Answer

Spelling/proofreading items include commonly confused words (e.g., 'their/there,' 'to/too') embedded in otherwise correct sentences. Catching these requires reading for meaning and usage, not just scanning for obviously misspelled words.

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