A hosted voice and data service from BT is helping the
Mid & West Wales Fire & Rescue Service to answer emergency
calls from the public more quickly.
Before going live with the new system earlier this year, the
fire service had an ageing data network that reached all its 60
operational sites using fixed private circuit or dial-up ISDN
links. The old voice network only covered the organisation's eight
core administrative sites. Cisco networking hardware supported the
data needs, while Norstar modular phone systems supported the voice
needs.
The fire service wanted to have a more consistent approach to
phone contacts with the public, in line with e-government
guidelines. It wanted all incoming calls to be answered in less
than 20 seconds and for all callers to be charged at a single rate.
Because the Mid & West Wales Fire Service covers such a large
geographical area - in excess of 4,500 square miles - some callers
were incurring national call rate charges when contacting its
Carmarthen headquarters.
The improved service had to be achieved without significant
increase to the organisation's existing budget of £450,000 a year,
and without any extra support commitment from its IT staff. The
whole service - including day-to-day configuration, maintenance and
billing - is managed virtually by BT.
BT's phone network solution directs all non-emergency calls to a
new 0870 (national call rate) number. Screen consoles, supplied by
Datapulse, ensure that all phone operators have up-to-date
information.
Nigel Williams, communications & information systems manager
for the Mid & West Wales Fire Service, says, "We are already
witnessing operational benefits both in terms of a more responsive
service to the public and a reduced workload for our in-house IT
staff. I am also confident that our limited capital investment will
be further justified by a reduction in our future phone call
charges.