The UK government has awarded Cable & Wireless a
multi-million pound contract to supply the government with its new
Single Non-Emergency Number service, to deliver safety advice to
the public.
Launching later this year, the service is a joint Home Office
and Office of the Deputy Prime Minister initiative, which is
designed to provide easy access to community safety advice,
information and action.
The service will be delivered by police and local authorities
partnerships in a joint approach to community safety.
The new service is aimed at improving access to and delivery of
non-emergency services and increasing public confidence in the
handling of non-emergency calls.
With some 70% of current calls to the police 999 emergency
service not requiring an emergency response, the new service should
also reduce the burden on the 999 service.
Cable & Wireless is already one of three suppliers of the
999 service. This additional five year contract is a single
supplier contract and sees the company providing all the call
routing, traffic management and announcement capabilities for the
new service.
The Cabinet Office has also launched a £1.8m marketing campaign
to promote its one-stop-shop public services website,
direct.gov.uk.