Incident Management in Police Contact Centres
In recent months, our emergency services call and contact centres have been under great strain, offices dealing with emergency and non-emergency calls must think on their feet and when a major incident is underway that is extremely stressful, it will often result in an increase in staff turnover and rising overheads.
Stress is caused when individuals are unsure of what they need to do or say in a given situation, and although emergency services are well versed in dealing with major incidents, the people handling the phones calls and responding to requests for assistance via social media channels, are often not as experienced as those out in the streets.
So, what can be done to make sure officers and agents manning control rooms and contact centres get the support they need?
One cost effective solution is to use the TV screens already mounted in these locations to display clear and useable messages which the officers can then use to calm the public. Being able to tell the public what is happening, and what is being done to protect them is key to reducing stress on both sides of the conversation.
At SJS Solutions we work with some of the UKs largest police authorities to ensure their employees not only have access to performance related KPIs but also have access to the information they need to confidently answer questions from the public. Optymyse gives managers a simple system to send alerts, messages and reminders to police officers dealing with calls from the public. Optymyse is also a great way to recognise officers’ good performance and lighten the mood after major incidents have passed.
Wallboards displaying metrics and KPIs are useful, but when it comes to reducing stress and the cost of replacing employees, a more supportive approach is required.
