Challenge

In 2016 the alarm reception of 5 municipalities in West Zealand was centralised in West Zealand Fire Brigades control room (VSBV). VSBV handles 3600 alarms: ABA, 112 alarms and care calls, among others. Care calls from elderly citizens are a major task for the control room, as they constitute approximately 2600 of all the alarms. These care calls are activated around 700 times a day and are monitored 24/7. 

Care calls are paramount and should be handled properly every time. A care call can vary from trivial routine tasks, to life-threatening calls. These types of calls have traditionally meant a significant occupational burden for control rooms. Unlike automated alarms, which can be handled with a few clicks, care calls are mostly coming from older citizens with very different needs.

Solution

ISM optimises the time spent in answering care calls at VSBV, as the program handles 700 daily care calls automatically. The response is not dependent on a call center operator answering it, but is automatically transferred to the relevant contacts at the nursing home who receive the call on their phones. In this way, the operator is not disturbed from his other tasks.

The caller needs fast and efficient assistance, and thanks to ISM automatic handling, a better service is provided to the citizen. Where the citizen traditionally has to speak with an operator, who has to forward the care call to the nursing home, ISM eliminates the need for intermediaries by forwarding the call directly to the nursing home, who can help them or visit them, if needed.

If none of the contacts at the nursing home answer the call, it is automatically sent back to the control room, where it is handled by the operator. The ISM report module from VSBV shows that only approx. 2% of the daily 700 care calls are sent back to the control room. 

Innovative Security Manager^TM features

• Innovative Security Manager V3.0
• VoIP (via 3CX PBX)
• Care calls module

Based on work shift schedules, ISM generates “call lists” that the VoIP software will use when calling the nursing home. This is done by setting up basic auto instructions in ISM that automatically trigger the call when receiving a care call.

Results

• ISM allows the control room’s operators to focus on other emergency tasks without interruptions
• The control room can carry out its tasks with fewer operators. VSBV is currently staffed with just one operator, who handles all their alarms
• Automatic care call handling means saving at least one operator space (24/7), in other words, a saving of three full-time operators
• A better service is provided to the citizen, as ISM eliminates the need for intermediaries by forwarding the call directly to the nursing home, who can help them or visit them, if needed