What does a dispatcher (Disponent) do in security services?

Job advertisements describe the role precisely. Sicherheit Nord is looking for a dispatcher who “organises cover for absences” and “handles short-notice staff shortages” (job ad, Sicherheit Nord). At Contact Sicherheit the role includes “on-call duty at least one week per month” (job ad on join.com); BOB Security expects “at least 40 % of working time on site with the client” (bob-security.com). Indeed names the core as “point of contact for queries, complaints and site inspections” (Indeed). All retrieved 10/2026.

Shift planning means staffing every site at every hour with qualified people. Qualification under Section 34a of the German Trade Regulation Act (GewO), the Working Hours Act with its rest periods, leave and sickness levels and each client's site requirements all count. Planning happens in industry software; the changes, however, almost always arrive by phone: sick call, shift swap, late arrival, key question. If a shift drops out, the replacement must hold the same qualification and must not exceed maximum working hours, which narrows the options considerably in small teams.

The critical case is the night-shift absence. If the only night guard drops out and nobody steps in, the colleague on site cannot leave and ends up working a second shift. Changes that are “organised only by phone or chat” quickly lead to breaches of the Working Hours Act (secplaner.de, as of 10/2026). Cover is scarce: the BDSW association reports 5,478 open positions in the sector (February 2026, BDSW press release).

On-call duty means the dispatcher's private mobile is the switchboard at night. Sick calls for the early shift, client queries, key questions and sales calls all arrive there unfiltered. Every call wakes them up, even though only one in ten needs a decision. Many companies rotate on-call duty between two or three people; in small companies the owner carries it personally. What applies legally and how that can change is explained under on-call duty.

Empfango relieves the dispatcher of the first-line intake, not of the decision. The assistant answers every call, records name, callback number, site, shift and request and reports absences immediately to dispatch via WhatsApp or Telegram. Urgent cases are forwarded to the on-call number with a ring timeout; if nobody picks up, a callback is logged. Requesting cover and rescheduling remain the dispatcher's job.

How the escalation is set up is shown on the page on-call and escalation; the overview with five typical calls of a day is on AI phone assistant for security services. For larger companies with their own control room, see the distinction under control room / alarm receiving centre.