C3 Business Planning

There are a number of key commitments in the Chief Constable’s 2030 vision relating to Public Contact intended to improve performance and the service we provide to the public. Work is ongoing across C3 Division, and more widely, to ensure those commitments are met over the next 3 years.

A number of areas for improvement will be enabled by the introduction of the UCCP technologies and wider digital capabilities including an upgrade to our Command and Control system and Modernised Contact and Engagement platforms. Progress on the projects is routinely reported to the SPA Resources Committee.

Our technology refresh will enable a higher quality of service to the public through automated telephony and email routing as well as the potential to use Artificial Intelligence to support these processes. Clearly, any decision to leverage AI capability will be subject to a robust EQHRIA however this type of technology is being used routinely in other Forces and wider contact management organisations and is not viewed as contentious. The new systems will provide much improved data analytics relative to our contact demand including our discontinued calls. This will enable us to more accurately quantify positive and negative abandonment and focus efforts on improving user experience. It will also assist and understand the reasons for repeat callers.

In addition, Contact, Command & Control Division have recently undertaken benchmarking opportunities to identify best practice in order to further protect the 999-emergency service and help to reduce the 101 average speed of answer and our call discontinued rate. These include: -

• Adding an anticipated wait message where the wait time is less than 5 minutes (currently this is only provided where callers are waiting longer than 5 mins).

• Reviewing the automated telephony routing to identify any further efficiencies that can be obtained.

• Removing the 999 “Whisper” received by Service Advisors to inform them of the geographical area where the call is being made from. This is provided via the EISEC details electronically.

• Creating a surge capacity where peaks in 999 demand are experienced through use of other C3 business areas such as Controllers and Resolution Team (where capacity exists).

• Reviewing the 999 Emergency Call Handling Training to train new recruits on immediate entry (rather than within weeks 12-20 of service). This will maximise our 999 skilled staff and potentially increase our capacity between 15-20%.

• Re-introduction of 999 performance on display screens across our C3 operational estates to enhance our division’s primary focus and empower staff to more effectively manage emergency calls.

• Advise callers on our 999 system, where the matter is of a non-urgent nature to redial using 101. This will free up our Service Advisors to answer 999 calls that are waiting and seeks to drive behaviour change among the public to minimise misuse of the 999-emergency service.

• Increasing the number of staff trained to answer 999 calls will better protect our 999-emergency service where surges are experienced, this should also assist in some capacity to reduce the number of discontinued 101 calls.