The system includes a web self-service facility to log support calls, which was launched to staff with the organisation’s new Intranet. Supportworks will be used by everyone in the ICT team of 12, supporting up to 1300 staff, and a desktop population of 450 distributed across its headquarters, training centre, control complex, north and south divisional head quarters, a service centre for equipment and vehicles and 17 fire stations.

Supportworks was selected for its broad out-of-the-box functionality which is flexible enough to provide for future requirements, its web self-service module and its licensing arrangements which provided excellent value for money. Tyne and Wear Fire are considering adopting ITIL best practice service management principles, so the option to migrate to an ITIL version of the Supportworks platform was a key benefit.

Before Supportworks, Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service’s ICT department did not have a formal call logging system. With the new system the team expects to be able to schedule support and maintenance, rather than working on an ad-hoc basis and plans to build up a knowledge base to further structure support capabilities. The powerful reports within the system will enable them to identify trends and stop recurring problems, and identify training needs.

Craig Watson, Deputy ICT Manager at Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service said, “The implementation of Hornbill’s Supportworks has been part of an overhaul of our ICT infrastructure which was a result of moving our headquarters earlier this year. Supportworks provides us with a structured way to deal with calls to the ICT support desk. We expect to see efficiencies across the board, and be able to provide a better service to our staff. All callers to the helpdesk are encouraged to log their calls themselves using the web self service module and so far this has proved very popular. When we launched the service we were particularly careful to reply to web calls promptly, which gave the new system credibility from day one, and people have kept on using it.”

Gerry Sweeney, Managing Director at Hornbill Systems, added: “A clear migration path to ITIL is becoming a major consideration for many organisations. Hornbill prides itself in offering a service management platform that enables organisations to move towards ITIL at their own pace with the built-in guidance of our ITIL templates. By taking this approach, our customers are able to implement a fully flexible service management solution, that can be extended to support other areas of the business, and then move towards ITIL a step at a time, as and when the business demands it.”
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service
The mission statement of Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service is:
To create the safest community

Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service serves a resident population of 1.08 million in the North East of England, including Newcastle and Sunderland. The Service covers an area of 540 square kilometres including two large football stadiums, numerous museums and art galleries, three universities and a number of higher education colleges. The area has a range of well-developed transport links including the Metro light railway system, the UK’s tenth busiest International airport, an International ferry terminal and Newcastle Central railway station.

For more information please visit: www.twfire.gov.uk