RSPCA officers will soon be able to help even more animals in distress, thanks to a new mobile working solution which will be delivered to the Society’s 500 field staff by AMT-SYBEX.
Currently being developed to help handle the one million calls received by the RSPCA’s dedicated National Control Centre (NCC) every year, AMT-SYBEX will design, deliver and manage the Mobile Integrated Communications Equipment (MICE) project to tie in to RSPCA’s existing incident management system (TAILS) which is supplied, managed and supported by Sungard Vivista.
The incident management system raises and assigns incidents which are currently allocated to RSPCA Inspectors and Animal Collection Officers (ACOs) through the use of live radio contact or a voice messaging system. Replacing the voice message system, MICE will equip field workers with handheld PDAs linked to TAILS, which will allow incidents to be issued, updated and closed more quickly and efficiently.
The new system, which will include integrated Satellite Navigation, is intended to reduce the time and cost of collating accurate data about incidents in the field. It will also ensure that clear and concise information is recorded, at the point of work, allowing the Society to put its data to better use for campaigning and lobbying activities. All the project objectives help to underpin the Society’s work to prevent cruelty and promote kindness to animals.
Roll out of the MICE project is planned for spring 2008. The managed service contract is for five years, over which time AMT-SYBEX will cover the provision and management of hosted servers, first line helpdesk, ongoing device management (including the business process relating to the collection and replacement of field devices) and complete solution support.
Aaron Pacifico, Planning Manager at the RSPCA, said: “Although our existing system enables all 500 field workers to do their daily job, we wanted a new solution that could reduce administration costs, and ultimately improve data quality. The volume and accuracy of information that will be available through the MICE project will give us a much clearer picture of exactly what work is being done and where. It will also highlight areas for improvement, helping us raise the profile of our work in the right way.
“Following a competitive pitch, we awarded the contract to the AMT-SYBEX team, who quickly impressed us with their knowledge and experience in setting up and delivering successful mobile projects, experience of change management and focus on the end user of the solution.”
Ian Whitefield, Mobility Director at AMT-SYBEX, said: “It is great to be working with the RSPCA to help deliver greater efficiencies to such a respected national cause. When mobile working is implemented correctly, it can introduce significant benefits. This realisation has lead to a recent increase in demand for good quality mobility solutions across a number of different industry sectors. We look forward to a long and successful working relationship with the RSPCA.”