OGC
Identicom now available to UK Public Sector via Office of Government Commerce (OGC)
Violence against public sector workers is an ongoing concern and lone, community-based staff are among the most vulnerable. Vodafone UK and Orbis Monitoring have taken steps to provide faster deployment of protection devices by signing an agreement with the Office of Government Commerce (OGC). The agreement is to deliver Vodafone UK’s new Lone Work Protection device with the Orbis monitoring service directly through OGC Buying Solutions.
This agreement with Vodafone UK enables Orbis to meet the Best Value guidelines set out by OGC Buying Solutions, the trading arm of the OGC, for the direct purchase of Vodafone Lone Work Protection device. This eliminates the requirement for public sector departments to tender using OJEU (Official Journal of European Union), making it easier to provide protection to those community workers who are most at risk.
The joint offering is designed to allow customers to trigger an alarm subtly if they feel at risk so they can be located and helped, with police involvement if necessary. The Orbis Monitoring Centre has a direct line to the emergency services call centre which bypasses the 999 operator for additional speed and effectiveness.
Jim Gee, Chief Executive of the NHS Security Management Service, said, “Following the successfully completed trials of the Identisafe device by the NHS Security Management Service in March 2005, NHS staff said they felt safer and more at ease in their working environment when using it. Identisafe was one of a range of measures recommended to the NHS as part of new guidance to better protect NHS lone workers from violence and abuse. We know that the better we protect NHS staff, the better they can protect the health of the public.”
The device is specifically designed to be easy to use and access even under duress. The product looks and is worn like a normal ID card holder and can be operated without breaking eye contact with an aggressor.
David Hughes, Head of Government, Vodafone UK, said, “Mobile technology is now well-established within the emergency services and public sector bodies as an accurate and dependable method of locating people quickly. The strong combination of the Vodafone UK network and the Orbis monitoring technology has been instrumental in arranging this direct agreement with the OGC”.
Orbis director, David Armstrong, said, “Our software can take thousands of recordings of peoples’ whereabouts or incidents. Message-taking is not restricted to over-the-phone note-taking and all messages are available to operators instantly. Users can be assured of confidentiality – their information will only be accessed in an emergency. All communications are recorded on DVD and can be used later as evidence in any legal proceedings.”
There are four payment options: outright capital purchase with a choice of an all-inclusive (device plus calls) or a non-inclusive package (device only); and a monthly hardware payment with the choice of the same two packages.
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