Chiltern District Council adopts Identicom lone worker protection service

(05/03/2009)

Located in Amersham, Buckinghamshire and also covering the areas of Chesham, the Chalfont’s, Great Missenden, Prestwood and Amersham Old Town, Chiltern District's Council's Civil Enforcement Officers deal with on and off street parking including 18 local car parks accommodating 2,500 cars. Conscious that the VHF radio system was not working properly due to the topography of the area, Parking Manager, Andy Clarke decided to look into possible alternatives.

Chiltern District Council has adopted Identicom as part of SoloProtect, the lone worker protection service from Connexion2 for use by its Civil Enforcement Officers. “I researched lone worker devices and decided SoloProtect would fulfil our requirements”, said Andy Clarke. “We had a demonstration of Identicom and were so impressed we decided to go with it”.

The Council’s decision to purchase the SoloProtect package was based on Identicom’s ease of use and ability of employees to participate fully in managing their own safety. Connexion2’s SoloProtect combines the five-core elements that are essential for a credible and complete lone worker solution. These include the ACPO Secured By Design approved Identicom, SIM and inclusive airtime, user training, 24 hour manned monitoring and TotalCare™ pre & post sale customer support.

“The Identicom devices do not hinder our staff when they go about their business and I can categorically state they work”, said Andy. “Although no one has needed to press the red alert button we regularly test the units and the response has been immediate”, he concluded.

When an employee feels they are entering a hazardous situation, they press an amber alert button, providing important location information to SoloProtect’s monitoring centre. If the red alert is then pressed the centre’s support staff can discreetly listen in to what is happening and make an assessment as to the level of support required– involving the police if necessary and verifying the user’s location through the amber alert and location positioning technology. In the event of a verbal confrontation, the Centre can also record the conversation for future action.

Following the successful introduction of SoloProtect to Chiltern District Council’s Civil Enforcement Officers, the Council’s Revenue & Benefits Department has also purchased the system. Now instead of using a mobile phone, which can easily be knocked from the hand and can exacerbate potentially difficult situations, Welfare Officers now feel safer using the SoloProtect service. Feedback from staff has been very positive who have seen the introduction of Identicom as an improvement in their safety procedures.

Related topics:  Lone worker protection   Monitoring systems   Physical protection   Safety and protection systems   Security guarding 

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