Hytera Communications announced that the municipality of Ray Nkonyeni in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa is now using its digital call handling system for the reporting and recording of crimes.
The Hytera system replaces old-fashioned paper documents and is already making it much easier for citizens to report crime, and for the police and other authorities to process incidents and, ultimately, solve crimes.
Ray Nkonyeni Municipality is a newly established local municipality in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. It is the fifth most populous municipality in the province and located on the southeastern shore of South Africa, facing the Indian Ocean. The municipality is a well-developed tourist destination offering a mix of attractions including beaches, savannah populated by big game animals, and mountains.
Previously, people wishing to report a crime either had to visit the municipal government office in person or make a telephone call. The office clerks then recorded the crime information on paper documents which often became hard to locate and were occasionally lost.
The government therefore decided to invest in a digital crime reporting system to increase reporting accuracy and make it faster and easier to find documents.
Hytera supplied and installed its completely paperless online Call Taking and Handling System (CTHS). The team then customised its proprietary software to meet Ray Nkonyeni’s specific needs. The new system provides multiple benefits for improving both the safety of citizens and the efficiency of the police service, including:
• Faster responses to emergency calls and the ability to immediately dispatch police officers to an incident.
• Timeline-based tracking and recording of incidents, including status changes, actions performed and the ability to play voice recordings online. Supervisors can also monitor call-takers and join outgoing calls.
• Clear and easy access to documents and reports, including historical case tracking and management.
• The ability to generate call and incident statistics that help monitor progress, and identify where further improvements can be made.
• The preservation of resources like paper, which helps to protect the environment.
• Reduced costs. The new Hytera digital system is now enabling the Ray Nkonyeni municipality to save hundreds of thousands of rand annually.
Speaking to Hi-Tech Security Solutions, Ray Hesse, head of pre-sales at Hytera South Africa, noted that while the CTHS has been rolled out in one municipality, there are others in the pipeline. More than simply managing the emergency services for one municipality, however, the software is scalable and can be used for city, provincial and even national emergency centres, collating information to assist in the optimal response in times of emergencies – such as the recent flooding in KZN.
Ken Lin, deputy director of Hytera Southern Africa, said, “We are delighted to welcome another African municipal customer to the Hytera family. Through our partnership with Ray Nkonyeni Municipality, we are using technology to improve life for both citizens and police employees.”
Selwyn Naidoo, chief manager of the Fire, Rescue & Disaster department of Ray Nkonyeni, said, “We are very happy to use the Hytera Smart Call Taking and Handling System. It really helps us to improve the efficiency of working internally and dealing with all the incidents from the Municipality.”
Hytera is looking for additional distributors and resellers across Africa to meet growing demand for its portfolio of products designed for communication, dispatch and data transmission in public safety, utility, mining, transportation and commercial industries.
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