Forces sign deal with Sopra Steria under framework for Acpo North-East regional group
Two northern police forces have signed a contract with digital transformation company Sopra Steria for a multi-channel customer contact and resource management solution to run as a shared service.
South Yorkshire and Humberside Police will be the first to use the firm’s SmartContact system in their contact and despatch centres under a five-year deal, with implementation set to begin in November of this year and both forces expected to go fully live by autumn 2017.
They have established a framework with Sopra Steria under which other forces in the North-East regional grouping of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) can procure it under the same terms and conditions.
The value of the contract has not been disclosed.
A spokesperson for Sopra Steria said the system will be the first of its type for policing in the UK, incorporating integrated communications, contact and resource management, with features such as a self-service portal.
It will also work in conjunction with the planned delivery of a Pole solution, which classifies every item of data as a person, object, location or event. This is intended to support the forces in risk assessing incidents at the first point of contact.
Among the advantages claimed for the system are that it will identify repeat and vulnerable callers, improve intelligence assessments and give staff easier access to information. It will also give the public a choice of contact channels, including SMS, webchat and online reporting forms.
Image by Chris McKenna, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
