Transporter console The transporter console was a component of the transporter system . Located in the transporter room , it manually controled the functions of the transporter and its maintenance . It was typically operated by the transporter chief or other operations division personnel . Commonly seen aboard starship s from the 22nd century all the way through the 24th century , the transporter console utilized three sliding controls ( either manual levers or touch sensitive panels ) to achieve transporter function . ( ) The console allowed the operator to monitor various functions of the transporter system , including pattern buffer operations , signal resolution and even matter stream contaminants . The transporter operator could also detect the presence of weapon s or phaser fire within the transporter beam , and in some cases , could deactivate the weapon before re - materialization . As yet another security feature , the console allowed the operator to erect a force field around the transporter chamber . Prior to the introduction of biofilter technology , the console controlled the activation of the system ' s decontamination feature . ( , ) By the late 24th century , site - to - site transport became more commonplace and did not require a transporter console . Site - to - site transports could be activated by voice commands to the computer fairly easily . A site - to - site transport from a starship to another starship could also be done , from any console , such as a bridge station . The use of a bridge station to control transporter operations was a feature of some starship bridges as early as the 23rd century . ( , , ) By the 29th century , the transporter pad had been moved to the bridge of timeship s such as " Wells " - class ships , and was operated from bridge stations . ( ) Background information . During the making of both the original pilot and the second pilot , " Star Trek " s production personnel reused the bridge helm console as the transporter console . A concept illustration that Michael Minor created for " " s transporter room included a more streamlined transporter console than had been featured in the original series . ( " The Art of Star Trek " , p . 63 ) In a technical document called the " Enterprise Flight Manual " ( which was produced in February ) , the transporter console ' s workings were analyzed in depth . ( " " , p . 108 ) A circular transporter console , seen aboard the orbital office complex in , was originally built as a nurse ' s console for the " Enterprise " s sickbay . ( text commentary , " " DVD ) The transporter console aboard space station Regula I , as seen in , was actually a reuse of the helm / navigation console from the battle cruiser , from " The Motion Picture " . Though some graphics were replaced ( in accordance with the alteration in the console ' s function ) , the Regula I transporter console ' s basic red color scheme was retained from the Klingon console . ( text commentary , " " DVD ) According to the " " , the three touch - sensitive light - up bars on the " Enterprise " - D ' s transporter console were an homage to the three sliders used on the original " Enterprise " s duotronic transporter console in the original series . The transporter console in was a redress of the equivalent console from . ( text commentary , ENT Season 3 DVD ; et al . )