How the CritiCall Data Entry test works
A record appears on screen with a person’s details, and you type each item into a form of labelled fields: Last Name, First Name, Telephone, Address, City, Zip, Vehicle Identification Number, License Plate and Driver’s License. Biddle’s guide says many parts of the test take upper case letters only, as dispatch systems do.
The cursor starts in Last Name for every new record. Tab moves you through the fields in the order above and stops at Driver’s License; Shift and Tab moves back, and you can also click a field. In the Data Entry MT (multi-tasking) version, emergency messages appear in a box while you type, and you send the right agency within 15 seconds using the four decision rules.
The score is a rate: keystrokes per hour (KPH). Biddle does not publish exactly which keystrokes count. There is also an audio version, where you hear the details instead of reading them.
How to raise your keystrokes per hour
Speed is the score here, but only accurate entries are worth anything to an agency. Work like this:
- Read one item, type it, press Tab. Do not look back at a field once you have left it.
- Type phone numbers on the numeric keypad with Num Lock on, which Biddle’s guide recommends.
- Copy plates, licences and VINs character by character. The letter O and the figure 0 are easy to swap.
- When an emergency message appears, answer it at once by the rules, then return to the field you were in.
Worked example
Say a record holds 72 characters across its nine fields and you enter it correctly in one minute. That is 72 × 60 = 4,320 keystrokes per hour, above the highest of Florida Highway Patrol’s suggested cut scores (4,038).
If an emergency message costs you 10 seconds on that record, the same 72 characters take 70 seconds, and your rate drops to 72 × 3,600 ÷ 70, about 3,703. Every second of hesitation shows up in the score, so getting back to typing fast matters as much as the dispatch itself.
Tips for the real Data Entry test
- Set your screen to at least 1440 × 900 at 100% scaling, or zoom the browser to 75 to 90%. TestGenius says the emergency box can otherwise cover part of the form.
- Learn the four decision rules first, so the interruptions cost you seconds rather than thought.
- Practise copying names, addresses and phone numbers into a computer, which is Biddle’s own suggestion, and time yourself.
- Use a full keyboard with a numeric keypad if you can. The real test runs on a laptop or desktop only.
- Use the optional practice records at the start of the section to settle into the form before scoring begins.
Practise CritiCall Data Entry on CogniPrep
Our version gives you six minutes of records in the same nine fields and Tab order, in capitals, with an emergency message about once a minute that you must answer within 15 seconds. Your score is net keystrokes per hour, counting only characters in fields you typed exactly right, with field accuracy and your dispatch results shown separately. The six minutes and that counting rule are ours, as Biddle publishes neither.