“Northamptonshire is a smaller force with a smaller budget, but we’ve always been keen on pushing the limits with IT. CAE could see the bigger picture and they had good links with Cisco too. Instead of being rigid, they were flexible and pragmatic, focusing on the feasible - and it’s delivered excellent results.“

Keeping the vital blue light service operational 

Northamptonshire Police needed a way to use its resources more effectively to solve crime and keep its community safe. Key intelligence needed sharing and critical decisions had to be made throughout each day. However, face-to-face meetings were consuming precious time and money. Northamptonshire Police knew a secure collaboration solution was the answer: a video conferencing solution allowing the Force to make full use of its existing Cisco communications platform. This could be shared easily with neighbouring forces in Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire and would offer significant additional benefits. 

With just two days of demonstrations, with CAE involvement at police HQ, the Force was convinced to go ‘live’ with the proposed solution. This consisted of: 

  • Cisco Meeting Server proved flexible, resilient, and ultra-easy to use — with virtually no training needed 
  • Simple dialling is possible through Active Directory and integrates into users’ desktops 
  • High-quality video delivers a rich, two-way experience that captures important non-verbal communication 
  • The solution is secure, which is essential in the cloud when sensitive police information is at stake 

The Outcome 

Smarter collaboration, remote working, call recording and other innovations became available to all three forces. 

Working patterns have changed such as Chief Officers now give morning briefings over video to 10-20 colleagues. Around 5-6 video conferencing sessions happen every day, saving precious time and money for Northamptonshire, while enabling better decisions and swifter responses to fast-changing events. 

Scenes-of-crime officers and other teams can arrange conferences on the fly and the force can make better decisions, faster, using a technology that is secure and easy to use. 

Officers save time by no longer needing to drive to police HQ. They can connect at local offices or dial in securely from home with the potential of travel savings running into tens of thousands of pounds each year. 

Staff are benefiting from remote working that boosts flexibility but have the technology to collaborate from Force HQ.