We have been working across the Blue Light services to implement the Google solutions, enabling innovative ways of working, from using hangouts to deliver team meetings, to uploading photos to drive so they can be analysed by experts in real time.
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We have been working with several fire crews implementing Google Hangouts, which has been a true success.
Fires aren’t planned, and crews don’t know what they are going to be tackling before they get there. Using hangouts the blue light team onsite can contact other units. Furthermore they can contact fire experts using video calling to see what they need to deal with. This can ensure the fire is tackled as quickly as possible with the right equipment, and save lives.
One of the unplanned success is the availability of real-time data. Photos and videos of the fire scene are stored in Google Drive in real-time. This results in the images and videos being available to fire crime scene officers when they need them. Rather than relying on downloading the data when the device is next back at the station.
Shift work is common place in the blue light services. However with an increase in regulations there is a need for staff to attend more training sessions. This results in staff being called in on days off, or asked to stay on for mandatory training.
With hangouts, shift workers can attend the training session. First of all they can attend a training session anyplace, anywhere Rather than having to travel to and from the workplace to attend the session. Plus the hangout record function enables training sessions to be recorded and replayed at a convenient time.
Google Drive enables an unlimited store of data, whether it is finger prints, custody tapes, crime scene photos. All can be stored at different levels of secure access depending on the sensitivity of the data.
Access to the data can be defined by roles, or by person depending on the requirements. Sync options can be linked to phones and smart devices, to enable documents to be scanned and any photos to be automatically uploaded (with time and date stamps) to Drive.
