Dispatching Job Was Professional

I feel the citizens served by the fire departments in Braintree, Brookfield, East Randolph, Randolph and Randolph Center should know the facts and not be misled by the misinformation reported by The Herald of March 13, 2008. The article I am referring to was about contracting dispatching services for the fire departments, and it contained some disparaging comments about my professional service to the community.

Metro Answering Service was a business that I co-owned for over 40 years and independently operated during the last 20 years. I was a businesswoman who had professional status. I worked in an office that was well equipped with modern answering service equipment and although the office was attached to my house it was not part of my home.

In addition to the four fire departments, Metro Answering Service’s clients included over 30 businesses such as Randolph National Bank, the Randolph Town Maintenance Dept., Ferriter Oil Company, doctors’ and lawyers’ offices, etc. I had been a professional registered nurse for many years and had held responsible positions at the hospital, experience that served me well for emergency dispatching. I attended several seminars at Norwich University for the fire departments for dispatching emergency information.

The Herald implied that I was a retired person who stayed at home a lot, neither of which was true. I was not a retired person and was an active member of the community outside my home during those years. I hired reliable people to work for me as needed or when I was out-of-town or on vacation. I did not retire until 2002 when I discontinued Metro Answering Service. It is nice to be appreciated but somewhat demeaning if it is because I worked for "pennies," as reported in The Herald.

I felt that I received fair compensation for that period of time. Prices were different in the 1980s and ‘90s and we were not paying over $3 per gallon for gasoline. I hope this information clears up some of the misunderstanding of what it takes to provide a quality answering and dispatching service.

Ella Tewksbury

Randolph

The Herald apologizes for its careless description of Ella Tewksbury’s extremely professional dispatching work. We hope it did not obscure the main impact of the story—that after trying other solutions, the Town appreciates more than ever her expert service and reasonable prices.—Ed.

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