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The police complaints version of OperaFLO has been designed to manage police complaints procedures - however there is no limit to the number or type of processes OperaFLO can handle.
The system will handle ‘any’ complaint type and/or related PSD procedures and activity.
New unrelated workflows can be added to the system to manage whichever processes required. The features and functionality will remain the same but the work handled, users, rules and reporting etc. can vary from process to process.
Where necessary, processes or entire business areas can be ring fenced to maintain security and confidentiality.
FLOvate has a very simple agenda – the software it provides will help you to reduce the cost of business processing. Within the Professional Standards Department of a Police Force this means the ‘cost per complaint’ will be reduced. This objective is achieved by;
By enabling these 4 improvements, OperaFLO could reduce the cost per complaint by around 30%.
OperaFLO is a complete ‘Professional Standards Department Administration System’. The system can handle;
In addition when and if required, any other PSD business processes can be incorporated within the system at no extra charge.
OperaFLO is designed to handle any business process and can therefore accommodate all types of activity within the PSD. This includes complaints (civil, direction and control, conduct and miscellaneous), claims, investigations.
Standard processes (designed in line with IPCC guidelines) are provided and these can be ‘localised’ to accommodate each authorities own local procedures and preferences.
OperaFLO helps to ensure compliance with each forces own audit procedures and with national guidelines (IPCC, Freedom of Information and DPA etc.). The way in which all items of data relating to officers, the public and events are handled is defined during system implementation. This ensures that all procedures are adhered to. Supervisors and compliance officers can set up reports and queries to flag when an activity appears to be heading towards a breach of a target in advance of the breach actually occurring – thereby allowing intervention and resolution.
OperaFLO can be used to support, enforce and measure performance in relation to quality procedures. As mentioned above, workflow rules, alerts and reports enable supervisors to proactively control the way complaints are progressed within the department – minimising the chance of poor quality performance. In addition simple reporting tools allow team leaders and supervisors to monitor the performance of their teams as groups or individuals.
OperaFLO comes with its own built in reporting suite designed to produce a number of typical standard reports that all UK police forces are required to produce. In addition a simple but powerful reporting tool enables users to quickly and easily create reports relating to any aspect of complaints activity (PSD staff, officers, complainants, complaints, investigations, etc.).
Report creation can be automated to ensure that helpful information is produced with little or no effort on behalf of the users who require the information. Once produced, reports can be reviewed within OperaFLO or exported in standard Office formats (i.e. MS Excel).
OperaFLO normally operates alongside one or more other supporting systems such as HR systems, addressing or data mining packages. In addition it is often necessary to carry out a bulk import of data from the existing system which OperaFLO is replacing.
OperaFLO has a built in Application Programming Interface (API) designed to make it as easy as possible to connect external systems to OperaFLO to either receive or output data on a real time or batch basis.
By using OperaFLO’s own API, effort and costs for other interfaces are kept to a minimum.
OperaFLO is a task based workflow system which issues prompts, notes and instructions to staff in a clear concise and easily accessible way. Information is distributed via to do lists, diaries, portable devices or emails either at ‘head office’ or distributed sites anywhere in the UK.
This approach removes the need for staff to have to ‘remember’ what to do or rely on manual diaries etc. It also minimises the likelihood of people forgetting to complete important tasks when required. Where tasks are not completed as required escalation procedures ensure that appropriate steps are taken.
OperaFLO is designed to work over multiple sites (where required) to support field based staff, home-workers or staff at remote sites. This means that regardless of the size and nature of the user community, work is processed in a structured, secure and well managed way.
OperaFLO isn’t just a diary system or database. OperaFLO has a fully integrated document management system which allows letters, emails and faxes etc. to be captured and stored quickly and easily. Once stored, files can be easily retrieved for reference and reproduction. As well as recording ‘inbound items’ OperaFLO also allows users to produce letters and notes in standard templates or on an ‘ad hoc’ basis. All items are stored in a clear and logical way and cross referenced with the various files that they relate to.
FLOvate has been providing products to the public sector for a number of years. We currently have clients in the Police Sector, Ministry of Defence and a large number of Local Authorities. As well as this public sector experience we have provided products and services to many private sector clients in the financial services, legal and logistics sector.
As a result, we are well positioned to migrate practices and methodologies learned in the private sector (i.e. cost reduction, productivity and efficiency) to public sector clients, thereby helping to cope with the current Government agenda.
In the case of Lancashire Constabulary, FLOvate was selected from a list of 80+ suppliers after a thorough selection and vetting exercise focussing on technical capability and return on investment potential. FLOvate demonstrated both value for money and also our capabilities as a supplier in terms of stability, conduct and software expertise.
OperaFLO is written using modern Microsoft based tools which, as well as delivering first class functionality and connectivity, also ensure the system is ‘future proofed’. This means the software will not become out of date after a few years – it will be in place for the long term.
OperaFLO support is provided by a team of product experts that know your processes and also understand how important it is for that product to be in place and working for you every day.
Our support team are able to access your system directly to administer help and support as and when necessary - thereby enabling you to complete difficult tasks when required.
OperaFLO is a proven system that has been supporting a large number of organisations with secure, critical systems for many years.
It is proven to be reliable both in terms of supporting our clients’ security strategies and also as a source of information in investigations and litigation.
OperaFLO will arrive with a standard set of procedures, workflows and document templates which have been designed based upon feedback from police clients and our own research. This package can be modified to reflect your own local procedures and interpretation of regulations.
By adopting this ‘pre-configured’ approach the time and cost of setting up OperaFLO can be kept to a minimum.
OperaFLO is designed to be able to ‘talk to’ other systems both in terms of receiving and transmitting information. Where information is received the system can be set up to ‘act on’ the details by creating review tasks for the relevant staff. In addition the system can automatically distribute tasks to staff within or outside of the department (in the form of emails) based upon rules or events that take place.
OperaFLO records everything that users do, every document it receives or outputs and every decision made using it. Even the briefest access to a record is recorded in the audit trail for future reference. Once recorded, activities can be reviewed at a number of different levels. Users can access either a summarised or full history file attached to each record. The exact contents of each history file can be configured by the system administrator.
Supervisors and team leaders can access another level of detail which allows them to view how work is passing through the system and how each member of staff is performing.
Finally, managers and analysts are able to access ‘everything’ via the reporting suite. Detailed information relating to every piece of data and every event can be identified, displayed and manipulated via OperaFLO’s simple but powerful reporting suite.
OperaFLO is made up of a series of databases which record information relating to people, events, locations, cases and investigations etc. OperaFLO’s workflow management presents information from these databases to users in line with SLAs and procedures. By recording information in a structured way, we ensure that confidentiality and data integrity can be maintained. Where information is common and should be shared, this happens – equally, where there is a need for information to be ‘ring fenced’ this takes place.
OperaFLO has fully integrated document management enabling the production of letters, emails and reports directly from the system. Letters are usually produced using standard templates however these can be modified where necessary by the user who produces the letter. A copy of the actually letter at saved at the time of production is always stored. Once produced letters can be reviewed or reproduced easily.
OperaFLO can be configured to allow varying levels of access to different areas of the system or even to different records. Access can be assigned on a user by user basis, by role or for groups and departments. Where required pseudonyms can be used to protect identities or to avoid ‘one to one’ relationships within the department.
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