This means that today’s control rooms have to be interdependent with, rather than independent of, other systems, including those of other services.
That’s why I’m so passionate about our market-leading solution, ControlWorks, which uses cutting-edge technology to support emergency service control rooms. And also why I’m so confident it will continue to lead the way in advancing the collaboration of the services of the future.
As a former military officer and someone who has spent the last 45 years living and breathing command & control systems and technology, I was blown away when I came across ControlWorks.
So much so that it ultimately led me to joining the team to be involved with the ongoing development of this world-class solution. I’m delighted I did – as a wholly-owned, fully integrated, end-to-end control room solution, ControlWorks is unique in being able to support and enhance the direction of travel for multi-agency emergency services collaboration.
| “Today’s control rooms have to be interdependent with, rather than independent of, other systems” |
Today’s control room technology must be about much more than a computer aided dispatch system. For services to be able to respond effectively and efficiently to all situations, there’s necessarily much cross-referencing of resources to ensure the appropriate level of support at an incident, and to ensure the officers attending are fully equipped and prepared.
To achieve this, the control room system needs to ‘talk to’ other systems – both internally within that force, and externally with other agencies. For example, London Fire Brigade, London Ambulance Service and the Metropolitan Police Service are currently working together towards their common vision of ‘Making London the safest global city, meeting the duty established by the Policing and Crime Act 2017 to collaborate with other emergency services to deliver the best possible outcomes. For this tripartite to continue on a trajectory of success, it’s essential that the technology is capable of adapting to cross-agency working.
Clearly, successful integration with other systems is vital to any future-proof control room solution, where the technology is able to uphold and advance a multi-agency approach.
ControlWorks and our integration credentials
With ControlWorks, we’re in the unique position of having already established our credentials in the field of successful integration.
Three of the five largest police forces in the UK have chosen ControlWorks, with one having successfully gone live just last week and the other two in implementation – an impressive statistic which speaks volumes about the capabilities of this impressively functionally-rich solution. Internationally, current implementation also includes an iconic Asian mega-city police force.
Arguably even more impressive than this is that we have a combination of police forces (4) and a large government department “in Live operation” where ControlWorks is already at the centre of operational policing and delivering a solution to Highways England (HE) that meets their needs for the successful management of the UK’s motorways and major road networks. Our customers include South Wales Police (see the case study) who were the first force to take ControlWorks and The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) as the latest member of the ControlWorks family..
At the time of writing this, ControlWorks is uniquely placed to support integration with systems such as criminal records management, duty management and social media feeds delivered as a seamless part of the solution. Where necessary, other key systems can be easily interfaced to our solution and we have huge experience in successful delivery to meet such requirements.
Future-proofing your police force
The key to ControlWorks is that it’s incredibly powerful and yet simplifies the systems required for police operations – instead of having to bring together multiple component system parts, ControlWorks is a single solution which can be adopted (and adapted) as one single robust system, making it easier and more streamlined to maintain. System availability is always a major consideration, particularly for mission critical solutions, and ControlWorks has an exemplary record in this crucial area.
And it doesn’t stop there – ControlWorks has been designed so that we can continue to keep pace with your evolving needs, sitting at the centre of future public safety platforms to help join up the dots, helping you to future-proof your force. The need to bring multiple services together and to grow such collaborations to include key supporting agencies and departments is fundamental to the future successful delivery of public safety services. I know that ControlWorks has a major role to play in this evolving need and I look forward to being part of it.
Find out more about ControlWorks or read the South Wales case study
