Public Sector Case Studies

ArmyNET

Rallying the troops

Supporting Britain’s foreign policy and its NATO commitments sometimes requires a rapid response from the British Army. “My department is charged with exploiting internet technology to improve communications,” explained Major Adam Anderson, SO2 Internet. We’re very conscious that virtually all soldiers have mobile phones and we’re keen to explore the potential uses for SMS messaging.” In its role as the Army’s Spearhead Lead Element, 2LI is the UK’s highest readiness battlegroup, capable of responding to a call-out within 24 hours worldwide. Rallying the troops in the event of a short-notice mission could become a matter of pressing a button on a PC, using the dedicated ArmyNET system, to send SMS messages to hundreds of individual phones. PageOne Connect also allows officers to check whether their soldiers have received their messages and to receive replies to messages that have been sent. Military applications clearly demand high levels of security and resilience – areas where PageOne has a tried and tested track record.

Birmingham Heartlands & Solihill NHS Trust

Text helps care for mums-to-be

PageOne Connect helps ensure that teenage patients of Birmingham Heartlands and Solihull NHS Trust receive health tips and appointment reminders for ante-natal clinic visits and maternity ward tours. Using Connect, the teenagers have the support they need direct from their own mobile phones. “Before using text, young people were unlikely to attend the clinic. Now groups are well attended as teenagers feel that the group is directly targeted at them and that we have a genuine interest in their well-being,” said the trust’s Lizzie Smith. “Text is a medium that teenagers feel comfortable with and therefore it has been a very successful way to contact teenagers.”

Northern Constabulary

Speedy response to gun crime

Police officers responding to firearms incidents depend on rapid and reliable communication when dealing with potentially life-threatening situations. The Northern Constabulary covers a massive and remote area of the UK – the Local Authority Region of Highland and the Island Authorities of Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles. With teams of officers spread over a wide area, every second counts in answering reports of gun crime. That’s why the Northern Constabulary relies on PageOne Connect. Constable Graham Findlater, Firearms Instructor, explained: “Communication is of the essence. We must understand the nature of the problem, assess the level of response and ensure officers are contacted and can respond.”

Northern Ireland Ambulance Service

Instant alert for life-savers

Responding to life-threatening conditions such as heart attacks and electrocutions in the remote, rural parts of Northern Ireland demands a quick response from the emergency services. The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service opted for PageOne Connect not only to improve paramedic response times, but also to alert its network of life-saving volunteers. “The system works really well,” said Control Manager Kieran Devine. “Response times can be reduced giving the increased potential to save more lives. PageOne is at the heart of the control room and everything we do goes through it. It is easily integrated into the wider command and control systems – something our previous system couldn’t do.”

Portishead Lifeboat Trust

Seconds count

Founded in 1995, Portishead Lifeboat Trust are a charity dedicated to saving and protecting the lives in the Seven Estuary covering an area of 170 square miles. The crew and volunteers of Portishead Lifeboat Trust have relied on PageOne’s paging service for its rescue alerts for more than 10 years. Unlike other suppliers who were instantly discounted because of message delays and poor coverage, the Trust chose PageOne because of its resilient network, ability to provide a quick pager response and coverage with no blank areas. “We have a good relationship with PageOne. Its service has been reliable and changes in tariffs have worked in our favour, allowing us to provide all our personnel with their own pagers.

Surrey and Sussex Healthcare

Rapid response for health trust

East Surrey Hospital is the dedicated care center for Gatwick Airport and has a crucial role to play in the event of an airport emergency. Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, requires fast, efficient communications with staff to help coordinate its response to emergency situations. Choosing PageOne Connect gives the Trust the peace of mind of knowing that its emergency and routine communications are in the hands of messaging experts. Combining PageOne’s SmartGroups to send messages to paging and mobile devices provides the Trust with an easy and flexible solution.

West Berkshire Health Authority

Cost savings for health authority

Replacing an out-dated, expensive local paging system with PageOne Connect proved a shot in the arm for West Berkshire Health Authority (WBHA). Frustration with the old system’s inefficiencies and restrictions ended when the health authority adopted PageOne’s state-of-the-art technology. “PageOne Connect has enabled us to vastly increase efficiency and reduce costs,” said Jack Ribbons, WBHA Communications Technician. We are now able to effectively communicate with our large number of Health Visitors and Community Nurses, tracking who has received the information and, where appropriate, track who has responded and when. The new system was also fully operational within only two months of making the initial contact with PageOne Connect, so we were able to start reaping the substantial operational cost savings within a very short time frame.”

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