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3rd March 2003

London's Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and PA Consulting Group (PA) outline their experiences of piloting a mobile data service designed to improve MPS's end-to-end Command and Control activities. The presentation was focused on the work supported by PA within the MPS in pioneering the use of next generation mobile technologies to aid the deployment of resources by improving the speed and effectiveness of delivery of critical communication and information.

Part of this project has been the trial of small touch screen terminals in police vehicles, which enable real-time data from central control to be sent immediately to the officer at the incident location. When fully operational, this advanced service has the potential to be used across a number of command and control functions, such as computer-aided despatch, police national computer checks and automatic vehicle location system, thus greatly enhancing the service that the MPS can provide to the public in London.

This project is part of C3i, a far-reaching programme of change at the MPS, which has been looking at how the service can achieve maximum efficiency and effectiveness from the deployment of its resources. As the number of calls has grown, the Met has needed to look at how it can get more out of its ever-mobile resources, especially those on emergency calls.

In particular, with the deployment of remote resources, it is vitally important to know the precise location and status of each and every resource at the disposal of the MPS. New-generation mobile telecoms provide a greater flexibility of communication compared to the current use of radio. The project has looked not only at the most beneficial use of mobile data technologies, but also the impact on the Met staff (frontline and back office) and the end-to-end processes involved in resource deployment and critical data transfer.

Peter Weare, specialist in development of mobile data applications at PA, adds: "This technology can, of course, be applied to a number of different organisations - public and private sectors - in which forces in the field such as sales, maintenance and emergency can be much more productive in their interactions with the public and customers."

PA is the leading supplier of end-to-end 3G solutions, both to the mobile telecoms industry and to enterprises worldwide, helping to make 3G happen. PA's technology-led consultancy solutions for 3G operators range from strategy planning and services creation through network and IT architecture design, WLAN construction and rollout management. PA supports vendors directly through the provision of contract design of infrastructure and handset products, marketing and bidding support, and infrastructure element design.