The Security Services team in Estates Services undertake annual measurement of customer satisfaction and measure performance against standards for delivery and quality of customer service. We engage with our key customer groups through a variety of methods that allow us to develop insight and understanding of how we can improve our services. We also analyse complaints, accolades and general feedback. As a result, over the past 12 months we have put in place several improvements that we hope demonstrate our commitment to delivering services that fulfil our mission to maintain a safe and secure physical environment for all staff, students and visitors. All of the following improvement actions have been implemented as a result of consultation and engagement, analysing trends in complaints, feedback received from our customers, and insight from our staff. We hope that our customers continue to provide feedback and engage with us as we look to develop our services further. Contents Service developments... 2 Improvements to service delivery... 5 Complaints and dips in performance... 6 1
Service developments Security Planning Initiative The Oxford University Security Sub-committee requires that all departments ensure their local security plans are complete and up to date. OUSS has therefore developed a series of documents to help departments achieve this. They are available on our website here. Command and Control Over the last 12 months we have implemented an electronic incident management database called Command and Control. Using this system has improved our response to incidents by giving our staff instant access to all relevant information concerning University property. The reporting function also allows us to give our customers accurate and complete information after an incident, keeping them up to date. Security Liaison Network Each department should now have a dedicated Security Liaison Officer (SLO). This network was started as a way of engaging with customer departments more effectively. We provide training and guidance to SLOs to help them deliver security provisions in their buildings. This is requirement of the university, however it was understood that consultation with departments would be essential. See the SLO network entry below for details of how we intend to achieve this. We recognised that our system was in many ways antiquated, and required updating. This also links back to comments from our surveys that although the service is good, there is a need for clearer communication of sitespecific information to patrol teams. This system greatly improves efficiency by giving all personnel access to the information they need in the event of an incident. Analysis of complaints received by Estates Services revealed the most common cause of complaint is lack of consultation around service provision. This is also one of the lowest scoring areas in the Estates Services customer survey. With this mind, and given the need for departments to develop their security plans, this network was put in place. 2
Customer Stakeholder Group We currently engage with customer groups individually through a variety of briefings, presentations and conferences, as well as with the customer survey. We now hold regular meetings with representatives from each of our customer groups. During these meetings we discuss service issues, standards, improvements and any ideas for future service provision. SLA Reviews When we introduced Command & Control we contacted all departments to ensure our information was correct. In doing so we also confirmed the service delivery in our Service Level Agreements. It was noted during this exercise that some of these SLAs were out of date and that a complete review was necessary. CCTV Expansion The security service manage a relatively small and increasingly outdated CCTV system. Through an extensive bid process funds have been secured to install a digital system that will improve the existing scheme but also importantly provide the space required to grow and expand the system, giving more customers the choice to use OUSS for their CCTV monitoring. The use of CCTV systems remains important both in terms of deterring crime but also detecting it and is an important factor in ensuring the safety and security of the staff, students and visitors to the university. Admin Amalgamation In January 2015 following a detailed independent review, OUSS amalgamated its general admin and vetting office staff. Previously both teams had worked in isolation in different parts of the building, dealing with their own specific responsibilities. The amalgamation of the teams into one space had allowed us to develop the staff, introduce shared responsibilities, improve productivity and introduce more effective team leadership through the appointment As above, consultation is an area Estate Services need to work on. It was also recognised by the team that engagement and consultation around visitors to the university was a significant challenge. This group aims to solve that problem by ensuring representation from all key customer groups who can provide insight into the needs of various visitors to the university. To provide services that meet the needs of our customers in line with our mission, vision and values. There have been numerous request from both existing and potentially new customers for OUSS to monitor local CCTV systems. The current analogue system has not allowed for any expansion and customer requests have had to be rejected. The new system will allow for growth and enable OUSS to accommodate future requests giving the customer choice with monitoring arrangements and potentially secure local cost savings. Over the last four years OUSS have introduced a programme of new operational initiatives to improve the quality of our service provision, customer experience and the continued delivery of a safe and secure learning environment. To maximise the benefits of the new systems 3
of a new Head of Administration. The new arrangements have improved the customer experience and allowed us to maximise the benefits of our new Command and Control system particularly in respect of problem solving and customer feedback. Appointment of OUSS Security Trainer A key current and future priority for OUSS is to work with customers in university departments and colleges and assist them in reviewing and improving their local physical security plans and emergency action plans (evacuation/lockdown). It became clear that in order to achieve this there would be a requirement to offer training support. and processes it was essential to install efficient and effective administrative support. Although there are still improvements to deliver within the team, the improved leadership now in place, continuing development of our staff and the improved productivity have delivered better customer service. In developing our support arrangements it became clear that we may need to provide training and exercise support to customers as the revised plans were produced. The appointment of a dedicated trainer would also support the delivery of internal training for OUSS staff in respect of a host of new technical security systems introduced to the department. The appointment was achieved at no extra cost by reviewing the existing OUSS management structure and creating revised roles and responsibilities within the team. 4
Improvements to service delivery Quarterly incident reports Using data generated from Command and Control we will send departments quarterly reports detailing incidents that have occurred in their buildings, including who from the department attended. Online incident reporting You can now report an incident through the Mobile Oxford app and the Security Services website. Radio Network We reviewed communication channels and discovered that there were several radio networks being used across the University. We have now introduced a single network that allows us to more easily communicate with a wide variety of customers. The radios also include a lone worker function. Command and Control Updates Inbox In order to maintain accurate and complete information on Command & Control, we have set up an inbox to allow customers to inform us when something changes in their department, such as call out lists and key holders. Standards for service delivery We have recently introduced a set of service delivery standards to help us monitor our performance in key areas. The standards appear on our website and commit us to providing timely responses to incidents. We will report our performance against the standards on a quarterly basis along what we will do to improve should we fail to meet them. The Customer Stakeholder Group requested these reports. Reporting an incident can cause anxiety, however we need to know of incidents to be able to respond and adapt our services as necessary. Customers are now able simply to submit a form. Review of communications and emergency procedures. Some recent dips in performance where the wrong key holders were called during incidents. As part of our commitment to customer service and high standards of performance. 5
Complaints and dips in performance We are pleased to report that we do not receive many complaints about the services we provide, however we will summarise those complaints here along with what we have done to resolve them. Cycling in University Parks It was highlighted to us that we failed to respond to a report of a cyclist in the University Parks, where cycling is not permitted. The complaint also highlighted that we did not respond to these concerns at the time. Consultation (in general) As part of Estates Services we analyse the complaints received by the department in general. The most common theme in these complaints is lack of consultation. Incorrect information held A recent incident at in the Science Area revealed that we had not contacted the correct key holder. Response As a consequence of this complaint and following discussions with the Parks Superintendent, we are now more focused around Parks infringements. We have a wealth of evidence on Command and Control relating to this which details the number of infringements identified and our resolution. This is a good example of reacting to a customer complaint, engaging with our partners and adapting our response to improve our service. In addition, since receiving this complaint Estates Services has set standards for responding to all customer queries. We are also introducing helpdesk software which will ensure each email we receive is acknowledged and given a reference number. This will improve the quality of our response to customer complaints and ensure we respond promptly. Response We have strived to improve our level of engagement and consultation over the last 12 months. We recently introduced a Customer Stakeholder Group (see above), and our network of SLOs continues to expand. We invite customers to get in touch with any ideas for how we could engage and consult with departments and colleges to better effect. Response Our records were not up to date. As soon as we were made aware of this we obtained the correct information and updated our database with the new contact information. The updates inbox allows customers to update us with new information and we strongly encourage our customers to use it to update us as often as possible: securityservices.updates@admin.ox.ac.uk 6