Nottinghamshire Police drives improvements in call handling and incident response operations

As part of delivering against its performance targets, Nottinghamshire Police began a major project in its call handling and across its incident response (IR) operations in 2007.

The prime objectives were to improve customer service by ensuring that incoming telephone calls and deployment of officers were as efficient as possible. Fundamental to the review was that Nottinghamshire had to identify areas for improvement and re-tune existing processes in order to drive these improvements.

In order to ensure that the strategic review was sufficiently thorough and scientific in the conclusions and recommendations it reached, Nottinghamshire required a comprehensive decision-support software solution that could copewith the volume, complexity and dynamism of the variables facing Nottinghamshire Police’s call centre. It also had to be cost-effective, quick to implement and easy for non-expert users to navigate.

Nottinghamshire Police had previously undertaken successful simulation projects incorporating WITNESS software and consultancy from simulation specialists Lanner Group and was keen to explore a similar approach for its call handling and IR project.

It opted for Lanner’s PRISM solution and Ernie Brummitt, head of performance analysis at Nottinghamshire Police, explained: “In a sector which is subject to stringent financial and service targets it was imperative that we deployed the right tools to help us maximise the ROI of this project.

“PRISM can drill down into the processes we are currently using and highlight bottlenecks which previously inhibited our ability to maximise resources and provide an excellent service to the public and our officers. Its ability to map out scenarios based on multiple dynamic variables in order to build a business case is invaluable.”