SNEN proving its worth

The Single Non-Emergency Number (SNEN) project is another area of Communications Centre work which, in trial mode, is proving successful.

The officer leading the SNEN project, Superintendent Steve Christian, says the trial went live in Bay of Plenty and Auckland City districts last November.

“SNEN has been very successful in demonstrating the systems and processes we’d need for a separate non-emergency call handling service.

“We’ll do a thorough evaluation in the next couple of months and then seek some decisions on where to from here,” Steve says.

The challenge for the Communications Centres now is managing the annual growth in call volume.

“Our calls are increasing by seven percent a year and we expect that trend to continue. We’re working hard to put the strategic pathway in place so the centres and districts are ready for that.

“We’ve come a long way in understanding our own business and the impacts on districts, so we’re pretty well placed to meet that challenge.

“The work programme flowing from the Independent Review will never be closed because of ongoing development needed to keep pace with changes in technology and society,” Steve says.