Commercial Fixed Wing
Dispatch Dispatcher
Communication Breakdown; Situational Awareness; Troubleshooting
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General None Reported / Taken
Environment - Non Weather Related; Company Policy; Human Factors; Staffing; Procedure
Inbound voice calls coming from aircraft SATCOM systems ring to several dedicated inbound extensions. These lines are divided up among several international desks so that one extension will ring at its assigned desk by default. While these are the default settings; any Dispatcher can modify their phone's settings to make any number of the extensions ring to that phone. These modifications will be restored to the default anytime the phone is logged out.While working the charter desk; I set up my phone to monitor all of the inbound SATCOM lines. Throughout the shift I noticed multiple inbound calls ringing with nobody picking them up. Each time I would pick up the call and transfer it to the appropriate Dispatcher.The reason the calls were going unanswered was that no other dispatchers were monitoring these extensions. Many of the desks that have been closed due to COVID-19 are desks that normally monitor a SATCOM line. I advised the Chief Dispatcher that the SATCOM lines need to be reallocated to the desks that remain open so that they can be continuously monitored. He advised me that this would have to be done by a Person X via coordination with the phone support specialists. The chief advised Person X that this needs to be done. In the meantime we have no official procedure to monitor these phone lines. I continue to monitor the lines during my shift and advise others to do the same.The Chief Dispatcher did advise me that when calls go unanswered; they eventually forward to the Chief desk. While this is a good fallback option; it causes unneeded delay for crews that could be calling with urgent needs.
Dispatcher reported problems with the SATCOM lines going unanswered due to COVID-19 staffing levels.