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Core Functionality

Roles and Qualifications (V3.3.2 and above)

From version 3.3.2 the user will have the ability to self-nominate both their rank and qualification from within the settings page of the app. This information is intended to assist all viewers within the group during emergency response to understand the available human resource for each turnout. Viewers of the information includes communications officers generating and monitoring the turnouts.

🚨 New Feature Highlights - Settings Page Update: Users can select:

  • Rank (default: Firefighter)
  • Qualification (default: Empty)

Operational Purpose: - Helps group viewers understand available human resources.

  • Improves situational clarity during turnouts.

  • Supports communications officers in resource planning and deployment.

  • Release Timeline: Expected rollout from 4th August 2025.

Not all qualifications will be available. The ones currently in the app are considered important from discussions with firefighters during the MTEL roadshow in March 2025.

Availability and Crew Responses

The move to the mobile app as an adjunct to paging was a huge technological jump that now allows for two-way communications between the fire crew and the communications centers. The app enables crew members responding to turnouts to update their availability and status in real time, ensuring swift and effective communication.

There are several core concepts within the MTEL Connect app:

  • Turnout List
  • Availability
  • Response to turnouts

The availability function is a crew member's current availability to respond to a future turnout. A crew member can change their current availability for a station or see other firefighters' availability from the Settings tab, Station Availability selection. Within the MTEL platform, there are currently three types of availability that the user can select for each group the user is in:

  • Available - This indicates to the system the user wishes to receive notifications for turnouts. During a turnout the user will receive up to 3 notifications. Notifications stop when the user responds.
  • Unavailable - This indicates to the system the user is unavailable but still wishes to accept notifications. This is typically used when the user cannot immediately respond to a job. For example, a shift worker.
  • Away - This indicates to the system the user is not to receive notifications. On a turnout the user is immediately presented as away to the other users in the group and the communications centers. This is typically used when you are too far from the station in a neighboring town, interstate, rest break or even on a holiday.

When responding to a turnout using the app, a user can respond with a status letting the crew of the turnout know their response. Responses can be provided and seen live during a turnout from the turnouts page availability list. Responding is available during a current turnout with the following status:

  • Yes - This indicates that the crew member is attending the turnout. Other information can be provided by the user such as time to station and the distance from the station.
  • No - This indicates that the crew member cannot immediately attend this turnout, but may opt to change to yes should further help be required.
  • Away - This indicates the user is away from the station and cannot possibly attend the turnout. Users who are away are automatically populated into the turnout when it is generated.
  • Meet On Scene - This indicates the user is moving to the location of the turnout.

The yes response can also be segmented into three sub-selections each with a time indication. Each button is assigned to a prearranged number of minutes to station. The buttons give the user the ability to estimate their time to arrive on station.

Turnout Notifications

The MTEL Connect platform revolves around turnout notifications, which are sent every time a new turnout is generated within the communications center and delivered to you via the app.

Each turnout triggers three notifications based on your availability settings in the group availability settings for each group the user is in the settings page (Group Availability settings in the Settings page). If your status is set to available or unavailable, you will receive all notifications. However, if you are marked as away, you will not receive any.

Upon receiving a notification, simply tap it to open the app and view the turnout details. From the turnout page (Turnout page), you can select a response option. Once you respond, no further notifications will be sent for that specific turnout.

If a new turnout occurs—including stop jobs—a fresh set of notifications will be sent. We are actively working on reducing notification overload to minimize distractions for crew members who are already engaged. Additionally, ongoing development efforts aim to enhance communication between MTEL and Comms, improving efficiency and feedback across the system while reducing notification noise.

Warning

Notifications are sent by MTEL but are ultimately delivered by your phone manufacturer and internet service provider (ISP). While they are generally reliable, occasional misdelivery can occur if Google Notification service is unable to send to the user mobile in a fixed period of time. This is usually 45 seconds. For guidance on improving notification reliability and troubleshooting issues, please refer to our known issues and FAQ (Known issues and FAQ).