Start planning your new control room

Specialized furniture for mission-critical environments like this one integrate cable management into its design.

This guide covers the important elements to consider when setting out to build a new control room. When looking at control consoles always make sure they meet your specific needs and requirements. Specialized furniture must include the following elements in its design to ensure the successful completion of the project

Excellent build using heavy duty materials

Unlike ordinary desks, a control console is built using heavy duty materials like steel and high-pressure laminate. These heavy duty materials ensures its durability and reliability for years to come.

911 dispatch console with steel substructure

For example, using a steel frame will prevent the worksurface to bend overtime since this substructure is made from high grade steel.

Also, unlike ordinary office furniture, the worksurfaces of mission critical furniture are made up of high-pressure laminate instead of being made from cheaper wood composites.

These two components add up to create specialized furniture that is both durable and reliable in the long run. The steel substructure (frame) makes it a robust and strong enough to support the weight of many monitor rows and to keep IT equipment safe and secure.

While the HPL worksurface is scratch and stain resistant, and its anti-static properties make it dust repellant, which means it is also considered as a hypoallergenic material.

The worksurface shown above is made from high-pressure laminate to create a durable and reliable workstation.

Technology integration and implementation of ergonomic features

Mission-critical furniture that adapts to the different heights of operators helps them stay focused throughout the day.

For example, if an operator wishes to switch from a sitting position and continue their work while standing for the next hour or so, the console should adapt to the user's needs efficiently.

Video showcasing the different types of keypads available for height adjustable control consoles (sit/stand).

Cable management solutions in control consoles

With all of the computers housed inside the console’s CPU enclosures, and the multiple monitors mounted on top of the work surface, all of these cables need to be properly routed to ensure the flow of critical data.

All cables should allow for enough travel when adjusting heights, and be easily accessible for maintenance and support. For this end, cable chains connect the CPU enclosures with the worksurface to route and protect cables during motion.

CPU enclosures like this one are secured with a lock.

Sustema consoles are designed for heavy duty workflows following ergonomic principles provided by the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. Every action like adjusting the height of the work surface or performing maintenance for cable management is designed to be as nonintrusive.

Look for control consoles that include customization options

Beyond color options, a control console is designed to optimize the available floor space with a wide range of shapes and sizes. Meaning that a control console is designed to adapt to heavy duty workflows with cable management solutions, lighting, storage options, and other ergonomic features.

Building a control console means designing it to withstand heavy duty workflows, and a wide range of user sizes. For instance, Sustema consoles are designed using anthropometric data expressed in percentiles to be as accurate as possible.

This is helpful because it allows the designers to consider the full range of body sizes when designing specialized furniture for control rooms.

Control consoles are designed with dual height adjustable work surfaces to achieve a clutter free work surface. But also, to accommodate for the 95th percentile male for the maximum height of a keyboard work surface, or the 5th percentile female measurement. Read more on percentiles.

Having dual work surfaces means that the monitor work surface can be adjusted for the eye-height sitting measurements of both, the 5th and the 95th, female and male percentiles respectively.

This 911 dispatch console has two worksurfaces, one for the operator's immediate use and another one for monitor support.

In other words, the surface heights should be adjustable from 27 to 53 inches. When designing for 24/7 reliability in the control room, control consoles must allow users to adapt their space to them and not the other way around.

A note on accessories for mission-critical furniture

A reliable control console helps to maintain a pleasant and professional workspace.

If the operators have to constantly perform workarounds to complete basic daily tasks these inconveniences will build up and contribute towards increased burnout and turnover.

No aspect of the consoles should interfere with critical tasks. This is something to look out for when thinking about integrating accessories to your mission-critical furniture. For starters below are some of the must-have accessories for 911 dispatch consoles and mission-critical furniture including:

• Task lights

• CPU enclosures

• Power and Data outlets

• Monitor arms

Are you planning a new control room? We can help with that.

Sustema has more than 30 years of experience designing and manufacturing specialized furniture for mission-critical environments like 911 dispatch centers, air traffic control centers, process control rooms, broadcasting control rooms, trading floors and other industries. Fill out our contact form and leave us a message so that we can get back to you.

Fill out form