Training & Development

Lothian and Borders Tour de Force

Visit to Lothian & Borders Police Force Communications Centre

Review by Andy Moore

If you were a 999 call centre operator, how would you handle a call from someone requesting a taxi? How about someone complaining that their coal man delivered one bag too short? These were typical questions answered on a T&D tour of the Force Communications Centre of Lothian and Borders Police at Bilston on Monday 26th June.

A group of 11 JCI members attended the two and a half hour visit, conducted by Chief Inspector Ken Wilkinson. The evening provided a fascinating insight into the centre which handles an amazing 15,000 calls a week.

JCI members were shown around the 'homely' facility, which includes locker rooms, a gym, conference facilities and, most importantly, the communications centre. Here, members viewed the council-operated CCTV cameras that record live images of specific locations around the city.

The centre was built by HBG Construction and designed by Bradford Robertson Architects, the prime contractor for the IT systems was the Austrian company Frequentis. The requirements of the FCC were so high that of the few IT companies prepared to bid, only the Austrian based Frequentis had the track record, knowledge and equipment to meet the requirements.

It was completed on time with work starting in January 2003 and finishing in December of that year. The £10.4m centre takes all 999 calls from across the Lothian & Borders Police region and took its first calls from the public on February 8th, 2004.

Such was the level of interest in the centre by JCI members, Ken rounded off the tour by joking: "You all seem very enthusiastic. There are plenty of job application forms here if you're keen to join!"

Andy Moore
Editorial Director, Watchwords

Member of JCI Edinburgh

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