01400 POLICY CONTACT MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL ROOM

Transcription

1 Version: 5.1 Last Updated: 13/06/13 Review Date: 13/06/14 ECHR Potential Equality Impact Assessment: High 1. About This Policy 1.1. This policy explains how Call Management Department within Hampshire Constabulary will maintain the highest standards when dealing with contacts. The majority of contacts are received via telephone and this policy explains the role of switchboard and the Force Enquiry Centre This policy also explains the purpose of the Control Room (commonly known as CWUN) and how it deploys Force resources This policy is aimed at all staff employed by Hampshire Constabulary and is supported by the Contact Management and Control Room Manual of Guidance. 2. General Principles 2.1. Hampshire Constabulary is committed to making the best use of its resources. A key area of this strategy is to transform service delivery by taking full advantage of new technology such as Automatic Vehicle Location System (AVLS) and the Airwave Communication system Hampshire Constabulary is committed to providing an excellent service and aims to resolve contacts in an appropriate and timely manner Hampshire Constabulary will comply with National Contact Management Strategy and will employ a system of graded response to ensure the prioritisation of resources is commensurate with the nature and urgency of the need Hampshire Constabulary acknowledges that some members of the public will be unable to clearly understand spoken English or are hard of hearing and aims to ensure those sections of our communities have equal access to our service.

2 3. Statement of Policy 3.1. The Hampshire Constabulary acknowledges the importance of providing a high quality of service to all telephone callers. The excellent management of incoming telephone calls is a fundamental aim of any customer-focused organisation and confidence in the ability of Hampshire Constabulary to deliver policing services will depend on the quality of response to such calls Over 80% of all initial contact with the Constabulary is made by telephone and whilst the number one priority is our response to those calling with emergencies our day-to-day business also demands that the highest standards are maintained in delivering the service to each and every telephone caller. Therefore the Constabulary expects that every member of staff will take responsibility for providing an appropriate, high quality response to telephone callers Other methods of Contacting Call Management include Minicom for Deaf Access, the Internet via text services including True Vision specifically for Hate Crime, a Message Service via the Hampshire Constabulary Web Site and also via Air Waves by partner Agencies and Emergency Services. These methods of Contact receive the same degree of the high quality response To provide a service to the public caller and to assist partner agencies, Hampshire Constabulary will record details of appropriate incidents made to staff which may be of interest to the partner agency, or require action by it. These will be passed to the individual agency via the Altaris tasking system. 4. Roles and Responsibilities 4.1. The primary role of the switchboard is to deliver the caller to the appropriate telephone extension as promptly as possible The primary role of the Force Enquiry Centre is to resolve the contact without further referral or, if referral is necessary, to ensure it is done expeditiously and the caller is aware of what is happening Call Management will use available technology, currently Contact Centre 6, to ensure both emergency and non-emergency contacts are routed to the most suitable member of staff available to be able to appropriately resolve the call.

3 4.4. Call Management will always prioritise dealing with emergency calls over all others Genuine emergency calls may also be received by the Constabulary Automated Answer Service when a caller has used or 101 and the appropriate option is selected, these calls will be given emergency priority The primary role of the Control Room is to Command and Control grade 1, 2 and some grade 3 incidents whilst ensuring the best use of resources via the technology available to them All deployments in response to grade 1 and 2 incidents, emergency and priority calls, will be made only by the Control Room except in exceptional circumstances i.e. where officers self deploy to an emergency, which has been brought to their attention from another source. The Control Room must be notified immediately of all such deployments. 5. Implications of This Policy 5.1. Financial Implications/ Best Value - This policy has no financial implications. Call Management will aim to provide an excellent service which is commensurate with levels of finance. Call Management will continue to introduce efficiency and productivity savings when opportunities are identified Staffing/Training - Call Management is supported by Learning Development, who are responsible for initial and developmental training and ensuring materials are current and fit for purpose. Call Management also has its own Resource and Performance Team responsible for ensuring staffing across the department is aligned to demand Bureaucracy Not applicable 5.4. Risks - Contacts made to Hampshire Constabulary must be managed in a professional, service focused way or the caller s confidence in the force to deal with their issues will fall. Effective command and control is required to ensure the Force meets statutory and duty of care obligations and is not exposed because of a failure to identify, respond or, resource and incident appropriately.

4 6. Monitoring / Evaluation 6.1. The monitoring and evaluation of this policy shall be the responsibility of the Head of Call Management. Performance information will be obtained from available technology (Altaris, Symposium Contact Centre 6) and from various teams within Call Management (Performance Analyst, Call Management Resource Management) National changes with regard to the potential National Contact Management Strategy (NCMS) and any change in standards will be monitored by the National Contact Management Project. 7. Review 7.1. This policy will be reviewed 12 months following its publication and when the NCMS is introduced and annually thereafter. 8. Related Policies, Procedures and Information Sources 8.1. Related Policies Policy - Volume Crime Investigation Policy - Racial and Religious Incidents Policy Security and Information Assurance 8.2. Related Procedures Procedure - Recording and Deployment of Crime Related Incidents Procedure - Racial and Religious Incidents (Investigation) Procedure Protective Marking Procedure Data Protection Policy - User Responsibilities In Respect Of Information Processes

5 Force Action Plans 8.3. Information Sources Airwave Internet Page (Airwave Manual of Guidance) Contact Management and Control Room Manual of Guidance AD203 Equality Impact Assessment Origin: Call Management