national police interpreting project improving service delivery and driving value

NPIP – Proposed Pilot for 2009October 2008 Briefing Paper

[email protected] © Fujitsu Services 2008 PROPOSED PILOT PROJECT BRIEFING PAPER 1 st October 2008 1

TO REGISTER INTEREST IN FOLLOWING THE PROGRESS OF THE PROPOSED PILOT PLEASE EMAIL [email protected]

National Police Interpreting Project

Improving service delivery and driving valueBriefing paper on proposed live Pilot for telephone based interpreting service suitable for modern Policing requirements

A proposed shared service for UK Police Forces

Steve Blake for Fujitsu Services - PLEASE TREAT AS COMMERCIAL IN CONFIDENCE





To register interest in following the progress of this proposed pilot, designed

to drive value for money and improve Police service delivery, please send an

email to [email protected] with contact details. It is envisaged that all

pilot updates will be delivered by email.

For a MSWord version of this briefing, any further

specific enquiries or further information pleasecontact [email protected]

or telephone 07867 828 575




Introduction

It is clearly acknowledged that currently available telephone interpreting services for Police are not of a standard for effective and reliable Police service delivery. It is also clear that the costs associated with provision of interpreters are in areas spiralling and overall do not offer value for money.

The National Police Interpreting Project (NPIP) has the highest ambition to address these issues in a professional approach, adding value to services and raising the bar exponentially against current standards. Fujitsu are engaged with Cambridgeshire Police for the proposed delivery of a NPIP pilot in the Spring of 2009, testing for a national solution suitable for 21st century policing.

This paper is to provide a current overview and to seek observers for the proposed pilot from Police Forces and interested parties, on a non-committal basis – and to assist with the developing capability of a proposed nationwide service.




Project history since January 2008

Clear evidence of financial pressures on Police budgets

Early discussion with three Police Forces in January 2008 identified tangible fiscal and specific operational pressures

Research into supply and demand highlighted weaknesses in current offerings

A Police orientated solution offering was outlined, then refined with sponsors

Engagement with telephony and interpreting supply companies; election to progress with Prestige Network and BT

Pilot proposed for Spring 2009

Ongoing project progress monitoring from UK Police Forces




Early Findings from research undertaken

1. Demand for interpreters for foreign nationals residing or working in UK has increased exponentially since 2003

2. Despite increased outward migration of foreign nationals, demand is set to continue until at least 2017 with third and fourth waves of expected 2009 – 2017. Current trend is for equal numbers of new arrivals as leavers. This maintains the demand for language services at a constant level.

3. Increase in Police spending on interpreters up at least 64%

4. Costs are uncontrolled, audit trails are difficult

5. Calls not recorded and no possible re-use value

6. Calls take too long using a help desk as routing point




What is NOT fit for purpose? – Existing Telephony

Commercial language lines operate mainly in private sector, agents have no training or familiarisation with Police procedures

Police requests being routed through manual helpdesks, wasting valuable minutes waiting for connection.

Not best use of Officer’s time nor Force resource. Calls have to be manually transcribed at time of call

Time taken is 2 to 3 times longer for the most basic procedures

No validation can be made against conversations held




Making telephone interpreting fit for purpose

Fujitsu leading project with two key partners

Prestige Network: established suppliers to Police and to MoJSupplying a supply of appropriately trained interpreters covering over 100 languages on a 24/7 basis to UK Police

BT: Public Sector Services DevelopmentProviding secure agent handling and virtual call centre technology, call recording.

Fujitsu Services: Project management and delivery, secure data storage and retrieval




Proposed NPIP offering

Telephone based interpreting service, suitable for mobile, landline and conference calling

Utilises existing best of breed technologies

Built on Police requirements, developed with UK Police

Uses highly experienced partners

Delivers value for money

Equips Police with fit for purpose solution




What is fit for purpose? – NPIP

All Interpreters receive vetting, accreditation and training

Police use telephone keypad to select direct, faster access to interpreter

Direct connection between agent and Officer

All calls recorded and fully retrievable

Calls available as playback on demand

Calls available as written transcription on demand

All of UK and 100 languages / 24 x 7 x 365

Automated billing and business management reporting




Proposed NPIP Pilot in Cambridgeshire - 2009

24 hour coverage

Seven days a week

Six weeks duration

Covering core languages

Peterborough BCU has been selected as appropriate pilot host




How it Works - Call request process (Police Officer) on duty

From mobile or landline ‘phone, dials one simple number

Outgoing telephone number of the Officer/Civilian Worker is captured automatically, and triggers a log.

Language required: Officer follows short voice prompts and keys single digit number to request, eg “press 1 For Polish”.

Caller is connected straightaway with first available agent with the language skills for the caller’s requirements.

When connected to an agent: call data captured for agent and Officer’s telephone numbers, stamped with date and time, plus the PIN number of the agent; with option to key in Officer’s identifying number.




Monitoring and closing a call

The recording of the call commences automatically.

To close the call, either hang up – or Officer keys a request for further action.

Options under consideration are:

Send audio file to device used for connection

Request audio file routing elsewhere

Request transcription of conversation against SLA




Retrieving a stored call recording

Through proposed use of the Criminal Justice Exchange (CJX) currently utilised by Justice community.

CJX provides accredited, secure access from any UK Police Force direct to their stored call recordings.

Appointed individual / unit access database of call recordings against known search criteria (Officer / Civilian Worker / originating number / time and date etc)

Audio file is downloaded to designated location

Audio file is requested for transcription




Call information captured

Caller’s details

Interpreter’s details

Call time start / end / duration

Language requested

Call content

Report generation

Cost centre allocation

Resource utilisation

Exportable data




The Proposed Call Service – background activity for interpreters delivering NPIP

How the interpreter links to NPIP

Pre-security checked, trained interpreting agent:

• Dials into NPIP virtual Contact Centre• Keys in PIN to establish credibility and availability• Secure entry• Closes the call

The system recognises the language capability of the PIN holder, adds the individual interpreter to the telephony “hunt group” – a ready pool of available interpreters.

Any subsequent call requiring the exact matching language skill is patched straight through from the Officer to the interpreter.




Next steps – wider Project – Autumn 2008

Establishing a “Pilot Observers Group”, taking representatives for each Police Force and other interested parties to monitor pilot progress.

The proposed NPIP pilot will be trailed at:

OCJR presentation September 2008

ACPO Conference November 2008

MoJ presentation November 2008




Next steps – with stakeholders - Autumn 2008

Develop solution design, tailored to meet operational requirements and procedural standards

Ensure compliance to standards of record keeping, admissibility of recordings, all due diligence plus Data Protection and FOI

Present solution to stakeholders

Agreement of timetable for pilot launch Spring 2009




Solution development – Autumn 2008 / Spring 2009

Set up Pilot infrastructure

Install (remote) call recording, ISDN, data centre

Configuration of solution and link to CJ Exchange

Training of Interpreters (Already recruited)

Introduction of service requirements for user groups

Issue of guidance cards for user groups

Peterborough BCU engagement with users




Spring 2009 Launch pilot, with continuous monitoring and reporting

Pilot review

Analysis of performance achievement

Analysis of SLA attainment

Face to face feedback from Users and User Groups

Refinement as appropriate between stakeholders

Establish scale of expansion required

Release to marketplace





To register interest in following the progress of this proposed pilot, designed

to drive value for money and improve Police service delivery, please send an

email to [email protected] with contact details. It is envisaged that all

pilot updates will be delivered by email.

For a MSWord version of this briefing, any further

specific enquiries or further information pleasecontact [email protected]

or telephone 07867 828 575

national police interpreting project improving service delivery and driving value

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