TETRA  |  2010-11-12

Nottinghamshire Police Force, UK Selects APD

Source: The Critical Communications Review | Gert Jan Wolf editor

upgrading its control room system, driving operator efficiency and improving the service...

APD Communications, a global leader in mobile information, resource location/tracking and control room solutions, today announced that Nottinghamshire Police have chosen APD to modernise the force’s 999 telephony call taking capability. The agreement saw APD update the Force’s CORTEX Software Integrated CommunicationsControl System (SICCS) with Syntellect’s CT Connect CTI software, allowing the constabulary to better support over a million people that live within or near the city.

The new CT Connect software has been deployed across 116 workstations in the force's Nottingham and Mansfield control rooms, allowing it to support 2,359 police officers more effectively. The software provides seamless communication between the force’s two control rooms via user-friendly touch screens. Utilising Avaya’s Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) CORTEX provides efficient call routing and dynamic call prioritising, which dramatically reduces response times to 999 calls - allowing the force to provide a superior service to the public.
Operators can also use the CORTEX software to access an IP enabled Avaya CS1000 system, which provides advance information about each caller (e.g. name, address, postcode, GPS location and mobile phone provider). If a call is made within a vehicle, critical information (such as vehicle registration, make, model, colour, direction of travel and whether the vehicle’s airbags have been activated) can now be accessed. This enhanced level of information enables operators to improve response times and effectively manage incidents.

Discussing the successful deployment, Dean Langton, Technical Project Manager of Nottinghamshire Police: “APD’s experience in the sector, combined with the functionality of the new CT Connect software, made the decision a simple one. The roll-out phase across both of our control rooms took a matter of days and caused no interruption to live operations. The new functionality and resilience will allow us to continue to improve the service we provide the people of Nottinghamshire. We also have the option in the future to provide our operators with new functionality such as leveraging IP telephony or providing our remote workers with access to CORTEX via soft phones, allowing us to staff unplanned incidents.”

“Nottinghamshire Police required a future proof technology that could allow the force to provide its officers with the best support possible while reducing operational costs. Nottinghamshire joins a growing roster of forces that have chosen to put CORTEX and CT Connect at the heart of their control rooms. By working with us forces can secure ROI as soon as the system is turned on as our products can be deployed seamlessly into almost any telephony network and requires no additional operator training,” said Steve Denison, Managing Director of APD Communications.

The CT Connect software is used by more than one million agent seats worldwide and is regarded as the leading CTI offering. APD selected CT Connect for use with CORTEX as it is compatible with more than 20 different telephony switches and Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) solutions from leading providers such as Avaya, Nortel, Alcatel, Cisco, Mitel, Aastra Ericsson and Siemens.

Source: www.apdcomms.com