A practical checklist for setting up your first CAD workspace

Start with one ordinary shift

The useful starting point for a new computer aided dispatch workspace is a familiar call: someone requests assistance, a dispatcher records the location, a unit responds, and the team documents the outcome. Write that sequence down before configuring every available option. It gives your setup a concrete goal and helps separate essentials from things you can add later.

Choose a clearly fictional practice incident and identify who will enter it, who will respond and who will review the resulting record. A small security team might use a campus assistance request. A shared dispatch center might choose a routine service call. Keep real names, addresses and sensitive incident details out of practice data.

Gather the few details that shape everything else

In Quick CAD, a new workspace starts with account registration and email confirmation. The setup wizard then collects your agency identity, call configuration, initial units, service area and subscription choices. Check your time zone carefully: the same timestamp should make sense to a dispatcher, a field user and someone reading a printed record later.

Decide on a recognizable agency code and callsign convention before distributing team instructions. Your first account becomes the initial administrator. Additional personnel and access settings can be configured after the workspace exists.

• Agency name, short name, contact details and time zone.
• A short list of incident types, priorities and closing dispositions.
• Initial unit callsigns and the people responsible for administering access.
• Your service area and the number of seats you expect to need.

Use call types your team can explain

Start with the incident types your staff actually use. Give each a clear name, a familiar code and a default priority that fits your agency's policy. A type such as Assistance request is easier to apply consistently than a vague catch-all. Default priorities help with intake, but they do not replace the dispatcher's assessment or your operating procedures.

Also review closing dispositions and the incident-number preview. A disposition describes how work ended; it is different from the original reason for the call. If your workflow requires a disposition before closure, enable that requirement. Test both a straightforward completion and a call that needs follow-up.

Save your progress and configure maps deliberately

You do not need to finish setup in one sitting. Quick CAD saves the setup draft to the verified account and displays its save status. Wait for All progress saved, or use Save and sign out, before leaving. If a save error appears, resolve it or retry instead of assuming the latest edits reached the server. If another session changed the draft, reload the saved version before continuing.

The service-area step accepts a Google Maps browser API key and map center. You can configure the key later, but maps and address suggestions need the associated Google Cloud setup. Follow the in-product Maps help for required APIs, billing and website restrictions, then verify the actual website URL you will use.

Try the workflow with real roles and fictional records

After completing initial setup, use Agency settings to add your team and configure permissions. Test with separate dispatcher and field-user accounts, not only the administrator. A successful administrator test does not tell you what a responder can see. Confirm that each person can reach the tools needed for their job and cannot open unrelated administrative work.

Run the practice call through intake, assignment, status changes and closure. Open its incident log entry in the back office and check the location, timeline and outcome. If reporting is enabled, continue into a draft report. Record confusing labels or missing configuration and fix them before trying the same sequence again.

Finish with a launch checklist you can repeat

Review seats and the payment agreement before creating the workspace. The 30-day trial starts when initial setup is completed and the workspace is created; it allows up to 25 active users. Billing shows the workspace's exact amount and due date. Include administrators and other paid roles in your planning, and confirm the selected seats rather than counting only today's signed-in users.

Before operational use, have your team confirm account access, call types, map behavior, unit status changes and record review. Keep your agency's response and continuity procedures available alongside the software. Setup guidance and support can help explain the application, while your agency determines how its operational procedures should be applied.