TCOLE Telecommunicator 1013 Practice Exam
TCOLE PRACTICE EXAM — TELECOMMUNICATOR 1013
Basic Telecommunicator Licensing Course #1013 — Questions & Answers
For educational self-assessment purposes only. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE).
1. What is a 'telecommunicator'? Answer: A person who receives, processes, and/or dispatches emergency and non-emergency
calls for law enforcement, fire, or EMS services.
2. What federal agency regulates radio communications used by public safety agencies? Answer: The Federal
Communications Commission (FCC).
3. Define 'emergency' in the telecommunicator context. Answer: An occurrence or imminent threat of damage, injury, or loss of
life or property resulting from an extraordinary natural or man-made cause.
4. Through what mediums does communication transmit information? Answer: Radio, light waves, wire, and/or cable.
5. Define 'ethics' as it applies to public service. Answer: The discipline dealing with what is good and bad, and with moral duty
and obligation.
6. Name a common misconception about ethics. Answer: That 'good people' don't need to worry about ethics, or that ethical
concerns only apply to those in positions of authority.
7. Which state agency enforces standards of conduct for state officers and employees, including ethics rules? Answer: The
Texas Ethics Commission.
8. Name a Principle of Public Service commonly cited in telecommunicator training. Answer: Accountability.
9. What is 'chain of command'? Answer: The structural roles and reporting relationships within an organization.
10. What are the two types of 9-1-1 systems? Answer: Basic and Enhanced 9-1-1.
11. What does Enhanced 9-1-1 (E911) provide that Basic 9-1-1 does not? Answer: Automatic Number Identification (ANI) and
Automatic Location Identification (ALI) of the caller.
12. What device allows a telecommunicator to receive text-based emergency calls from deaf or hard-of-hearing callers?
Answer: TTY (teletypewriter) equipment.
13. What resource assists telecommunicators in communicating with non-English-speaking callers? Answer: A language line
service.
14. What does TLETS stand for? Answer: Texas Law Enforcement Telecommunications System.
15. What database system is used to check for stolen property, wanted persons, and criminal history at state and national
levels? Answer: TCIC/NCIC (Texas Crime Information Center / National Crime Information Center).
16. What does CAD stand for in a dispatch center? Answer: Computer-Aided Dispatch.
17. What is an MDT? Answer: A Mobile Data Terminal, a computer used in patrol vehicles to receive dispatch information and
access databases.
18. What law governs public access to government records, including 911 records, in Texas? Answer: The Texas Public
Information Act.
19. What ethical/legal duty requires a telecommunicator to protect sensitive caller and case information? Answer:
Confidentiality.
20. What are the modes of radio communication across interagency systems? Answer: Mobile-to-base, base-to-base, base-to-
mobile, and mobile-to-mobile.
21. What is 'immunity' in the legal context of telecommunicator liability? Answer: Freedom from duty or penalty; a legal
protection from liability under certain conditions.
22. What is 'negligence'? Answer: Failure to exercise the level of care that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in similar
circumstances.
23. What is 'gross negligence'? Answer: A severe degree of negligence showing reckless disregard for the safety of others.
24. What are the two types of legal causation? Answer: Cause in fact and proximate cause.
25. What Texas statute addresses the rights of persons with mental illness? Answer: Health and Safety Code §576.001, which
affirms — not strips — the rights of persons with mental illness under the Constitution and law.
26. What category do family violence, assault, and kidnapping calls fall under? Answer: Police-related calls.
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TCOLE PRACTICE EXAM — TELECOMMUNICATOR 1013
Basic Telecommunicator Licensing Course #1013 — Questions & Answers
For educational self-assessment purposes only. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE).
1. What is a 'telecommunicator'? Answer: A person who receives, processes, and/or dispatches emergency and non-emergency
calls for law enforcement, fire, or EMS services.
2. What federal agency regulates radio communications used by public safety agencies? Answer: The Federal
Communications Commission (FCC).
3. Define 'emergency' in the telecommunicator context. Answer: An occurrence or imminent threat of damage, injury, or loss of
life or property resulting from an extraordinary natural or man-made cause.
4. Through what mediums does communication transmit information? Answer: Radio, light waves, wire, and/or cable.
5. Define 'ethics' as it applies to public service. Answer: The discipline dealing with what is good and bad, and with moral duty
and obligation.
6. Name a common misconception about ethics. Answer: That 'good people' don't need to worry about ethics, or that ethical
concerns only apply to those in positions of authority.
7. Which state agency enforces standards of conduct for state officers and employees, including ethics rules? Answer: The
Texas Ethics Commission.
8. Name a Principle of Public Service commonly cited in telecommunicator training. Answer: Accountability.
9. What is 'chain of command'? Answer: The structural roles and reporting relationships within an organization.
10. What are the two types of 9-1-1 systems? Answer: Basic and Enhanced 9-1-1.
11. What does Enhanced 9-1-1 (E911) provide that Basic 9-1-1 does not? Answer: Automatic Number Identification (ANI) and
Automatic Location Identification (ALI) of the caller.
12. What device allows a telecommunicator to receive text-based emergency calls from deaf or hard-of-hearing callers?
Answer: TTY (teletypewriter) equipment.
13. What resource assists telecommunicators in communicating with non-English-speaking callers? Answer: A language line
service.
14. What does TLETS stand for? Answer: Texas Law Enforcement Telecommunications System.
15. What database system is used to check for stolen property, wanted persons, and criminal history at state and national
levels? Answer: TCIC/NCIC (Texas Crime Information Center / National Crime Information Center).
16. What does CAD stand for in a dispatch center? Answer: Computer-Aided Dispatch.
17. What is an MDT? Answer: A Mobile Data Terminal, a computer used in patrol vehicles to receive dispatch information and
access databases.
18. What law governs public access to government records, including 911 records, in Texas? Answer: The Texas Public
Information Act.
19. What ethical/legal duty requires a telecommunicator to protect sensitive caller and case information? Answer:
Confidentiality.
20. What are the modes of radio communication across interagency systems? Answer: Mobile-to-base, base-to-base, base-to-
mobile, and mobile-to-mobile.
21. What is 'immunity' in the legal context of telecommunicator liability? Answer: Freedom from duty or penalty; a legal
protection from liability under certain conditions.
22. What is 'negligence'? Answer: Failure to exercise the level of care that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in similar
circumstances.
23. What is 'gross negligence'? Answer: A severe degree of negligence showing reckless disregard for the safety of others.
24. What are the two types of legal causation? Answer: Cause in fact and proximate cause.
25. What Texas statute addresses the rights of persons with mental illness? Answer: Health and Safety Code §576.001, which
affirms — not strips — the rights of persons with mental illness under the Constitution and law.
26. What category do family violence, assault, and kidnapping calls fall under? Answer: Police-related calls.
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